


Quiet Company

by melodious_me



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), Justice League - All Media Types, Teen Titans - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Barbara Gordon is a Goddess, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, But we'll get there, Canon Disabled Character, Canon-Typical Violence, Did I Mention Violence?, Disability, Explicit Language, I mean after Under the Hood there has to happen a lot, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Minor Character Death, Multi, Mutilation, Oliver Queen is a Bad Parent, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Drug Addiction, Past Rape/Non-con, Roy's in a dark place, Roy-centric, Slow Burn, So much trauma, Soooo slow, Trauma, also there's no space for toxic masculinity in this fic, but make it Teen Titans, but neither does DC, continuity? don't know her, cursing, just didn't fit in, kind of going with the Under the Hood story line, retelling of Cry for Justice, so who's at fault, what else?, where do I even start
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:28:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29357244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melodious_me/pseuds/melodious_me
Summary: It all started out as a small side-mission for the Titans. After Roy has hit rock-bottom once again, a small mission was exactly what he'd thought could drag him out of that hole again. But a small mission turns into something way bigger than anticipated, and an old acquaintance reintroduces themselves.
Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Roy Harper/Jade Nguyen, Roy Harper/Jason Todd, Roy Harper/Rose Wilson, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Comments: 16
Kudos: 39





	1. A New Player

**Author's Note:**

> Oh boy, this is a long one and my 2020 NaNo project that I finally came around to post. It's a bit angsty (it's a Roy-centric fic including Jason, so... duh) so a few disclaimers ahead. Tags and chapter-specific warnings will be added accordingly. Take care of yourselves!
> 
> This is my unconventional take on what happened after the events of Under the Hood, including the story arc on how Roy lost his arm. So be prepared for a lot of drama and trauma playing into this. I'm laying heavy on Roy's past with addiction and Jason's... Jason's everything, let's be honest there.
> 
> If I have forgotten any important tags, have a typo, worded something wrongly or anything alike, please let me know and I'll add them ASAP. I hope you enjoy it regardlessly :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a meet-up with Dick, Roy meets the new player in town who keeps the Batman on his toes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While proof-reading the first chapter, Word reminded me that 'Fuck' might be offensive to some of my readers, so I've added explicit language to my tags. 
> 
> Also, content warning for this chapter: Roy is not good at coping with stuff, so detailed descriptions of despair and alcoholism. Should any of you be interested in reading the fic whilst avoiding the heavy bits, let me know in the comments and I'll add disclaimers for the passages as well as neutral summaries in the notes.
> 
> I think that's all I have to say at this point :)

Roy saw him the first time when he was visiting Dick in Gotham. They had a case to discuss and although Roy didn't exactly like Gotham, it was a whole lot of meeting halfway. Dick was running on little sleep, Roy had vaguely been in the area, anyways, Gotham was well-known ground to both of them. They tried to stay low on the radar, but they knew it was almost impossible to hide anything from the Bat. Then again, Dick had said that Batman was running thin these days and hopefully was simply sleeping.

When Dick greeted him, Roy saw that Batman wasn't the only one running thin. Something must have happened.

"Hey man, thanks for coming all the way here."

"No worries, I was in the area, of sorts. Are you all right? You look..."

"Dashing as ever, I hope?" Dick smiled charmingly, which made the dark circles under his eyes only more prominent. Roy smirked.

"That as well. Tired, I wanted to say." Dick sighed.

"Bruce is running ragged, nobody really knows why, business as usual, right? But Damian was finding his place, the cruel animosity towards Tim is simmering down, Bruce had started to... show him the same kindness he had shown me when he had taken me in, and we had all thought it was getting better. There's a new player in town, but that shouldn't be any real reason for concern. I mean it's Gotham, right? So... I don't think I have to tell you that family is difficult, right?" Roy smirked again. 

"No. Ollie probably sends his best, if he knew or cared I was here." Dick snorted and they ordered a cup of coffee. "Then let's get this over with quickly, right, so you can get a little beauty sleep."

It was Titan business, although neither of them really was a Titan anymore. Tim had taken over Dick's place there, and as it stood, they were all very relieved about it. After Damian had almost killed him, Tim had moved into the tower. He was still in touch with Dick and Barbara and of course with Stephanie and Alfred but had decided to not get involved with Damian or Bruce for the time being. Roy didn't blame him. It was not as if he kept close contact with Ollie. Roy hadn't been in the Titans since his last relapse, and the fact that Dick hadn't asked him about it spoke volumes both about how tired he was, and that Roy had disappointed his friends once too often. 

When he left Dick, he kept an eye on the rooftops - more to not be surprised should the big Bat get a drop on him and to give himself more confident than he ever felt in his presence. And he really saw a shadow on the roof, saw someone trailing him. He took a left into a small alley to give Bruce the necessary cover to give him a talk, but instead of Bruce dropping down, he was suddenly pressed against the wall and found himself on the wrong end of a barrel.

"Jesus, fuck!", he cursed. He gave the guy in front of him a once over. "You're not a bat." A rattling sound came from the red helmet. "You the new one in town?"

"Is that all you know?" Roy looked pointedly at the gun between them.

"If all you wanna do is chat, what about lowering that gun of yours?" Again, a rattling sound.

"What has he told you about me?"

"Who?"

"Nightwing. The Boy Wonder. Dick. Whatever you call him these days," Hood said. Roy raised his eyebrows. For being a new player, that guy knew an awful lot about the local vigilantes. "Surprised?"

"Yes,” Roy replied bluntly. “Do I know you?" Again, a rattling sound. His voice was oddly mechanical, entirely distorted by the modifier in his helmet.

"I don't know, do you, Arsenal?" He gave him another once over. The man in front of him - who still hadn't lowered his gun - was a little taller than him. And he was bulky. From the built alone, he could take on Bruce. Midnighter probably had him beaten. He was used to being tall, and he knew no one that might match the build.

"I don't think so, but the way you say it makes me think I'm incredibly wrong." The man tilted his head in the other direction, the gun still unwaveringly pointed at him. 

"What did he tell you about me?"

"Your name. Red Hood. That's it. You're a bit of a thorn in the Bat's eye. Why?" Again, that rustling sound.

"I kill people," Hood said dryly. Roy shrugged. Then he grimaced.

"The Bat's not in favour, right. He's always been rather set in his ways there. That's it?"

"That's all you need to know for now." A flash grenade detonated and when Roy could see again, the Red Hood was gone.

Roy was curious but he knew he had no way of inquiring more about the Red Hood short of walking up to the Bat's front porch, either for permission to stay in Gotham for a bit or asking him about Red Hood personally. Which was neither his style nor did he think it was a good idea. One didn't ask Bruce for favours. But he was somewhat glad when business brought him back to that God-forsaken city. 

The Titan's mission he'd been discussing with Dick brought him back to Gotham, this time in costume. It was a stake-out mission, he was on his own, Dick was in Blüdhaven on patrol and only with him via coms.

"Anything happening?" 

"Not yet," Roy told him for the umpteenth time. Dick had never been one for patience and apparently, he didn't even need to be present for that. "So far everything is quiet. The Bat knows I'm here, right? I'm not really up for a lecture."

"Yeah, he knows you're in town. Heads up, that doesn't mean he will not give you a lecture, though, I'm not taking responsibility there." Roy sighed. It was true. Just because the Bat knew he was there didn't mean he'd leave him alone.

"All right, I'm prepared." Just in that very moment, he heard a thump on the roof and whirled around. It wasn't the Bat. It was the Red Hood. "Nightwing, I'll be back."

"Something happening?" But Roy had already cut the coms line.

"Hood."

"Arsenal." Again, that distorted voice.

"I'd like to hear your voice one time. Maybe that would help me recognize you," he said before he could stop himself. There was that rattling voice again and for the first time, Roy recognized it as laughter.

"What's so funny about this?" But Red Hood only shook his head.

"Maybe I'll tell you somewhen. You've got an eye on my mark, I see. What's your business with those people?" Roy raised his eyebrows.

"Need some intel, nothing more. They seem to get the cash for a mission that's caught the Titan's attention recently."

"I didn't know you were still with the Titans."

"I'm not. Just filling in because apparently, I've got nothing better to do. What do you want from the target?" He tilted his head and Roy began to think that this was his replacement for lack of mimic.

"I took over the drug trade in this part with a few very specific rules. This one doesn't seem to agree with me, so I'll try to convince him."

"There's the boss of the entire machinery down there?" Again, a rasping sound, but not the laughing one.

"Fuck, no. A rather high-ranking lieutenant, though. I will probably be sending his head back to his boss and hope he'll submit. Else I'll have some tedious business to take care of." Roy let that sink in. He felt the gaze of his odd company lingering on him, although he didn't know how that worked through the mask.

"Indeed, sounds tedious," he eventually said. The head tilted to the other side as if he couldn't believe that that was all he had to say. "Listen, if you want to scare me off or get a rise out of me, please say so. To the dismay of many, I'm not as goody-two-shoes as Nightwing, and not nearly as sanctimonious as the Bat himself. I know it's hard to believe if you've only been around Gotham. I've heard as much good about you as I've heard bad, so I gave up on the thing and as long as you're not crossing some serious lines, I don't give two shits how you earn your money. This city is rotten and at least you seem to be out for the same trash I'm after, so that brings us on the same side for tonight, right?" The head tilted again.

"Seems like it. Though you missed half the point if you think I've got something against the drug trade in Gotham. For now, that's indeed paying my bills." Roy shrugged, half tempted to ask him if the stuff was any good. He might get his fingers on some of it tonight, after all. Dick might never get him a job again if he found out but right now, that was neither here nor there. 

"Why do you want him dead, then?" There was a long silence and Roy had almost given up on an answer when that raspy sound piped back up.

"I have a very simple rule. No drug selling to children or even close to schools. That's it. Someone didn't comply. So, a head it is. Do you need any intel from him before I off him?"

"I need to know where the money goes." Another of those rough, mechanical half-laughs.

"Forty percent directly to me, I can tell you that much. Give me one." Roy sat there, waiting, taking another look at the warehouse where they were preparing for the exchange. "He actually knows how to hide his traces. Sorry, I haven't been invested enough so far to trace his transactions all the way to the bottom. I know he keeps another twenty for himself, some reinvestment, paying off his goons, some bribes, lots of bribes, and there's that one thing I cannot fully trace..."

"How can you trace that much at all? It's not as if there are transactions, it's all cash." Again, that cackling laughter that was both endearing and made the hair on his arms stand on end.

"I don't go into anything without gathering some intel first. If they had been into child trafficking, I'd have offed them before ever striking any kind of deal. Have, in fact." Roy nodded.

"Worse than the Bat," he muttered under his breath but apparently, the Hood's helmet still picked it up and another cackling laughter cut through the night.

"Don't let him hear that."

"You not afraid he'll show up here?", Roy asked and saw the other man shift uncomfortably.

"Our last run-in has been a while and I have an exit strategy." Roy thought back to the flash grenade. Then something else hit him.

"You've had a run-in with Batman and are not locked in Blackgate?" He shifted again.

"Apparently." And that was all he got on that. But Roy couldn't entirely let it go.

"Any advice on how to keep him away? I mean, he knows I'm in town but I'm still afraid he'll jump in and lecture me, although I'm pretty sure he doesn't even give a fuck about me." Another cackle.

"I can only tell you what worked for me, and I both think you won't believe me or be able to pull off the same stunt."

"Questioning my abilities? Harsh." That got him another laugh and Roy could get used to that rough sound, as off-putting as it had been at first.

"Then tell me, Arsenal, do you think you could emotionally scar the Bat?", Red Hood asked, and Roy could swear he was teasing him.

"I didn't know that was something anyone could do, short of dying, and as I said, he doesn't give enough of a fuck about me. Wouldn't even be surprised, come to think of it. He might even call Nightwing out on not having seen it coming." He expected another laugh, but he had just tilted his head in the other direction again.

"I'm not sure death can rattle that man." Roy snorted.

"You really haven't been around for all too long, have you? He lost... someone almost five years ago. He wasn't himself for at least two years, even I could tell, and I'm not keen on keeping in touch with that man. He's scary and judgmental and I don't need any more of that in my life." Again, there was silence, and Roy looked back down at the warehouse. If he missed his target because he was chatting up Red Hood, Dick would tear him a new one. But he still hadn't joined the party. "What brought you to Gotham?", he asked to get the conversation running again but as he turned around to get his response, he was alone. "What the-" He looked around and was just in time to see the Red Hood behead his target in a back alley. Roy cursed, but there wasn't all too much he could do anymore. What surprised him was that Hood didn't only pick up the severed head but pulled the body over his shoulder and carried him into the warehouse, trailing a stream of blood all the way to the door.

When he opened the door, guns were immediately pointed at him, but to Roy's surprise he simply stood still in the doorway, and slowly the guns were lowered. Apparently, their boss had told him not to mess with the Red Hood. After what he'd seen he considered this a smart move. He climbed down the roof and onto the next one to have a better chance of overhearing what he had to say and indeed, his earpiece managed to pick up the words.

"Good evening, gentlemen. Don't let me interrupt your work, I just came over to tell you that Bailey is not going to make it today. Or any day, really," he said casually as he spun the severed head he had grabbed by the hair around so that everybody could see who it was. The warehouse was silent. "You see, I explicitly told everybody that I have a simple rule, and that says don't sell drugs to kids or around schools or whatever else involves minors. That's it. Apparently, that message has reached everyone but you dimwits, so I thought he was the problem in forwarding that message. Now that I told you myself, I'm sure you won't forget about it because if I find out that one of you sorry people sold to children, I'll hold you personally responsible and you can join Bailey in my duffel bag. I'm glad we could settle this. You can keep this," and he tossed the body onto the floor, "the other part's a gift to Mercer." He turned around and left the building, looked around, spotted Roy, and not two seconds later he had grappled onto his roof.

"Thanks for bringing the head but I'm pretty sure that it won't answer my questions without the body to it," Roy said dryly.

"My bad. Should I get it? I don't think they have much use for him down there." Roy rolled his eyes. "Besides, he told me that the money was flowing back to Lex Corp. He assumed that there was blackmail involved, but all things considered, Mercer might be financing him. If you want to..." Red Hood hesitated as if he had to consider his next words very carefully, "I can ask him about it if you want. I have a head to deliver, after all." Roy's brows furrowed.

"In exchange for what?" He hadn't grown up with a silver spoon in his mouth. He knew that everything had a price, especially here, in the lower parts of Gotham City. He watched as the Red Hood tilted his head again.

"A favour." A favour was a dangerous thing. Then again, he didn't know whether he'd ever get the chance again, and maybe this wasn't as small as it seemed to be. Maybe he was involuntarily on to something really big. He hoped not.

"Deal."

"Meet me in two hours on Mercy Bridge," was the only thing he said before he disappeared. When Roy couldn't see him anymore, he released a heavy sigh, loosened his ponytail and ran his fingers over his scalp.

"What's your business with Red Hood?"

"Holy fucking cream on a biscuit!", Roy exclaimed as he whirled around. "Could you for once not do that?! One of those days I'll actually have a heart attack." Batman remained in stoic silence. Roy took a deep breath. "What's it to you?" Again, he earned himself only silence. "Listen, I needed intel, as Dick probably told you, and he had the same target, and he doesn't look like a guy I'd cross on a whim. Especially after he told me he'd had a run-in with you and hasn't been locked up in Blackgate although you're against him. So, I kept a low profile, gathered my intel, he went about his business, now he left. That's it." More stoic silence. It started to grate on Roy's nerves. "Look, if you've got to tell me something about that guy, go ahead, I'd be delighted. If that's all, I have to report back to Nightwing. If you want to know more about the case, take it to him, I'm sure he'll be delighted to share." He turned away from him, expecting him to leave, and also to hide his own expression. That last bit had gotten out a bit more sarcastic than Roy had intended to - and a lot more confident, too - but he did not care all too much what Bruce thought of him anymore. Not since he was pretty sure Bruce had made his mind up about him being a failure already. Then again, Bruce managed to find flaws even in Dick, and on his bad days, Roy couldn't help himself but find that man utterly perfect.

"Keep him away from Dick." Roy had assumed Bruce had already disappeared, the way he usually did instead of sticking through the entire conversation as a normal person would. He raised his eyebrows but by the time he had turned around, Batman had vanished into the night. Another heavy sigh. Time to report back to Dick. 

"Arsenal to Nightwing, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear. What happened there? Got me worried." Roy rolled his eyes.

"Target arrived, I got to business. Listen, I got a lead there and I want to check on this before I tell you more if that's all right? Looks like the money went to Lex corps and I might find out whether that's blackmail or investment."

"Who's your mark? Maybe I got intel on them?"

"Nah, man, don't you worry, I just had a conversation with Batman. As much as he hates me, I don't think he actually wants me dead, so he'd have told me if there was anything serious about that guy." Roy wasn't sure whether he talked about the Red Hood or Mercer at that moment, but it didn't matter. He would do his damnedest to keep the name Red Hood out of any future conversations after the command he'd just been given. Dick sighed on the other end of the comms.

"I told him to keep his nose out of my business."

"I think he was here on something unrelated. Didn't much care about either target at any rate. It was more about the area. Am I in anyone's territory that I don't know of?"

"Well, not that I know. Might look into it, but I'm somewhat busy right now. Catch you later?"

"Yeah." The connection broke and Roy was sitting on the rooftop on his own with two hours to kill on his hands. 

Mercy Bridge was a strange place, mostly because it was entirely void of any Bat. And from what he'd heard, it usually was that way. A Bridge was no good place for crimes, anyway, and yet it was as if something had happened here that still cast its shadow. Roy had still ten minutes to go, had decided to routinely patrol the streets on his way there, had stopped a mugging and one attempted rape with a little more force than possibly necessary, but hell, how else would that scum learn?

He suddenly reminded himself a lot of Jason and hell, Jason - it had been a long time since he allowed a thought concerning that boy. 

They hadn't been close before, not really, but they had been so much alike that it was difficult not to believe they'd known each other for too long. He and Jason had both been trouble, had both struggled with family, had both found new dad's that never seemed satisfied with them, that never were proud, that were constantly surprised by the anger such young men could pack. The only thing there was an age gap of six years that had prevented them from teaming up back when they were fourteen. But when Jason had been fourteen, Roy had been twenty and first got involved with Jade. Something that hadn't turned out all it had seemed to be. A pain spread through his chest and he looked down into the river. He missed her so much.

"It's not a pleasant fall down there." This time, Roy managed to not whirl around even though he was startled.

"Speaking from experience?" A static cackle.

"You don't know the half of it. So, I talked a bit to Mercer-"

"Happy about the gift?" There was a longer moment of silence and Roy's suspicion grew that he was glaring at him from under the mask.

"He said that the money indeed went to Lex Corp as an investment. What surprised me was that it wasn't for any kind of protection or weaponry against heroes - not that Kryptonite gets you anywhere in Gotham - but from a different threat. Over the last weeks, shipments were targeted. They exchanged the drugs for - well, other drugs, but not the fun kind."

"There is no fun kind," Roy muttered and was happy when the Hood continued as if he hadn't heard him.

"The biggest concern of Mercer was unhappy customers. He pays for guarding and delivery from Metropolis because suspicion ran high that it was one of the local freaks. Fear gas or venom variants, maybe even Joker toxin or Sweet Tooth has found a replacement for coffee sweetener. But in spite of it, it didn't stop, on the contrary. The competition in Gotham has only partially suffered from this, so now I'm looking for similarities, but the Metropolis drug trade, small as it is, has now taken a blow. And that's only what we know of. I, unfortunately, cannot walk up to Lex Luthor and ask him about further incidences the way I did with Mercer."

"Why not?" Roy tilted his head. "I mean, it technically affects your business as well. If you walked up to him and told him that his protective measurements are bullshit but maybe you could figure something out if only you had more info he might agree." A short cackle of static.

"I'm not sure Lex is so open with his contracts. Then again, if this really is an issue, he might have an interest. Although he's currently earning with his good for nothing protection. Does this seem to have any tie to your Titan's mission?" Roy shrugged.

"To be honest, I'm not fully briefed on the thing. I know my task for today, which is to find out where the money comes from and where it goes. Technically I've played my part, but... I see where this might go and if I'm not misreading you entirely, you're not exactly impressed with the drugs being swapped. I'd say let's work together on this but I'm just a tool here and heavily relying on Nightwing and after you left, Batman paid me a visit with a strong recommendation to keep you away from him-" A harsh, mechanical laughter cut him off.

"He asked you to keep me away from his precious prodigal son?! This is priceless. I'm not sure what he's afraid of but I think he doesn't know either. I'm tempted to work with the both of you just to spite that bastard, but Boy Wonder has a stick shoved almost as far up his ass as B has, so he might not be impressed with your suggestion." Roy mulled this over. No, Dick wouldn't be impressed, but Dick knew when it was necessary to ask for help, even in unexpected places. 

"I need to report back to Nightwing. Can we... Oh God, I don't know, meet up again in two days? That should give you enough time to chat with Lex Luthor and for me to find out about a few other things." 

"I work alone." Roy rolled his eyes.

"The only one who's ever said that to my face was Batman and we all know that's a fucking lie."

"I'm not a bat."

"No, you're not. About as silent and cryptic, but not a bat. Listen, with the next visit I might be able to sweeten the pot for you, but I need to work on that."

"What could you possibly have that I want?" Roy smirked.

"I'm a man of many talents. See you in two days, midnight, back up here." And with that Roy left Mercy Bridge in the vague direction of his bike.

On his way back home, he forwarded most of the info to Nightwing, omitting the entire Red Hood part. Unless he knew for sure he had something that'd make the cooperation worth Red Hood's time, he wasn't going to tell Dick about it and test his relationship with Batman. Going against him never really lost its horror.

Back at his workshop, he locked his bike and most of his gear away. It wasn't an optimal solution, being so far away from his tinkering and his tools, but he had the very necessary things at home, and on some days, the way to the workshop was the only thing that managed to drag him out of the house.

His apartment was dark and sickeningly empty. There was nobody there, nobody to come home to, and yes, if there was, he wouldn't have been out to begin with and yet coming home to an abandoned apartment hurt. Roy grabbed the half-empty vodka bottle that sat still open on the coffee table and took a sip straight from it. He had lost the hope that he'd find the answer to his questions and sorrows at the bottom of the numerous bottles he'd emptied but he had come to appreciate the fact that it helped him forget and sleep and stopped the thoughts from racing a hundred miles a second and he took another large swig. Mild intoxication wouldn't do today, not after that hole in his chest had opened up again when he'd waited at the top of Mercy bridge. Another large gulp and the bottle was empty. His mind already somewhere else, he entered the kitchen, got a new bottle, and cracked it open. Roy opened the door to the small balcony and stepped outside, got the pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one. He sat on the cold concrete floor, alternating between sips from the bottle and drags from the cigarette, waiting for the pain to be overtaken by the soft buzz of way too much alcohol.

Red Hood's little stunt had prevented him from grabbing anything from the warehouse but in all honesty, it was a good thing. He didn't really want to go down that hole again, not after all those months sober. He tried to tell himself that she wouldn't want that for him, that she needed him stronger than this. But she was gone, taken to who knows where, and he was back alone in his apartment.

He went back inside and into her room. Lian's crib still looked like he'd put her back to sleep any minute now, her stuffed bunny in her bed, her changing table set up in that meticulous order he'd somehow managed to keep it in. That little baby had given his life so much structure. And joy. Another swig from the bottle. Her birthday was coming up and he missed her more than ever. Was she talking to her mother already? 

It was ridiculous how fast he'd grown attached to her. Sure, she was his daughter, but he hadn't known that he even had a daughter until Jade had appeared on his doorstep, almost a year after their last encounter, with a baby on her arm. A lot had happened in the two days Jade had actually taken off of her schedule to turn his life upside down. A lot of shouting, too, though he agreed on most things with her. That little girl - Lian - was their daughter and he'd had as much part in the entire thing happening as she had. Her lifestyle didn't permit keeping a baby safe. Roy thought that his lifestyle wasn't exactly safe, either, but at least he wasn't a fugitive. He could step down from being Arsenal and nobody would cry about it or come after him. He didn't have any kind of feuds like Nightwing with the Penguin, and possibly even Deathstroke, though Roy was mostly confused about that bit. So of course, he'd taken her in - with no clue and no equipment for taking care of a baby.

His friends had been there for him, luckily. Dick and Donna, Wally as well. They had helped him move and set up a new apartment, had helped him doing groceries and kept an eye on Lian while he simply slept. It had taken him some effort until he told first Dinah and Hal and later, with Dinah's help, even Ollie. He had taken his time to settle in and get a routine, so he and his apartment didn't look the mess Roy felt they still were, but Dinah was charmed by the way Roy handled himself. Oliver, on the other hand, hadn't been as impressed, but that hadn't been Roy's goal. He had just wanted to let him know that he had a daughter and that in some sort of way he could be considered her grandfather. He had stopped looking for Ollie's approval some time ago, and at least with a baby on his arm Ollie wasn't as likely to get in his face again. Dinah had offered to help him or babysit Lian occasionally, but it had rarely happened. Roy knew that she was between a rock and a hard place and he didn't want to make things much harder on her. That first year hadn't been easy, on many, many levels. Those who were now again closest to him, something Roy was eternally grateful for, suffered through their own tragedies, first and foremost Dick by losing his little brother. The following month had been hard on him and he remembered how often he'd crashed at Roy's place because he needed somewhere to be that wasn't alone or within shouting range of Bruce. But time went on, meticulous as ever, and Tim forced his way into Dick's life, something that both seemed to remind him too much of old times but also did do him a lot of good. Dick got into a new relationship, and Roy's little princess grew and grew. Until seven months ago, Jade had appeared on his doorstep, just as she had one year before, and asked for her daughter. She had found a way to give her a happy life while still working her job. Roy had resisted, had tried to work out a compromise but ultimately knew that he was powerless against her. Now Lian's second birthday was bound to come up and she wasn't with him. He missed her so much it hurt. Roy hadn't believed it possible, not with how unexpectedly fatherhood had been thrust onto him, but he loved her fiercely and not having her around made everything dull.

Jade had checked in on her once, and Roy had neither known where she'd come from nor where she left, and it was much the same right now. No signal, no call from nowhere, no way of contacting her, and Roy was scared for Lian's life.

The bottle in his hand, he realized, was empty again, and the world was soft around the edges. He might be able to sleep, after all. He left directly for his bedroom as he noticed that the floor was a bit wobbly, too, and let himself fall into his bed, fully dressed, the world not yet spinning but taking its time to adjust to his now horizontal orientation. His last thought before he fell asleep was surprisingly rational: He needed to find out who the Red Hood was before it came back to bite him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yey, first chapter!  
> I hope you enjoyed it, I'm running on spite, caffeine, kudos, and comments, so any contributions are highly appreciated.


	2. A New Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With what little intel Roy had managed to gather, he finds himself dragged far further into the mission than he was entirely comfortable with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And already I need to update the tags because shit's about to get heavy and Richard Grayson deserves better. Namely, that the trauma he has suffered at the hands of, in this case, one very specific woman is acknowledged.  
> So, serious content warning here: For one, minor character death. Also, vague insinuations of rape. Neither of those are in any way graphic.   
> Take care of yourselves and I hope you enjoy the chapter :)

Roy was pretty sure that he had not signed up for such a colossal mess. According to Dick, he had only been called in for a small recon mission, nothing big at stake. This didn't at all seem like very little at stake.

Getting involved with Lex Corp., for one, never was a small thing. As a rule, Lex Corp. was one of the bigger players which was why he was usually left for Superman and that in turn was why Roy was now on his way to the Titan's tower. He didn't have any close relationship with Clark and since Clark played in the same league as Ollie, Roy had to admit that part of his apprehension came from that. He didn't even know whether any of the Supers was at the tower, or who it was, whether they still had any idea what went on in Metropolis or whether they were all caught up in a mission, but it still felt better than driving up to Clark's doorstep. Also, if he went to Clark it was a matter of days before Bruce knew because, for some stupid reason, not even Superman could resist Batman's death glare.

"Authentification!", the scanner in front of him demanded.

"Arsenal."

"Identity confirmed. Welcome, Arsenal." At least the A.I. still welcomed him. And would probably inform everyone in the tower about his arrival.

"Roy!" Tim jumped up from the couch he had been lounging on and hugged him tightly. "Good to see you here. How are you doing?" He practically beamed, apparently honestly happy to see him. Roy grimaced as he let go of him.

"I've been better, not gonna lie. What about you? You look about as tired as your big brother." Tim raised his eyebrows, and true, that was neither a surprise now something new. Tim's sleep withdrawal could power sleeping beauty's hundred-year slumber.

"I'm better again, I think. Things here are busy and a lot less hostile, so there's that." Raven and Gar came around the corner and waved.

"Hi, Roy."

"Hey, guys. Is Kon here, by any chance?"

"Did I hear my name?" With his super-hearing, it would have surprised Roy if he hadn't heard his name. Roy turned around to the voice and smiled.

"Just the man I need. Do you have a couple of minutes? And Tim, maybe your brain and computer might help there, too." They both agreed and Tim lead them to his room, where he immediately went for his desk to turn on the computer.

"You actually shut down your computer? It isn't just on standby?", Roy wondered out loud and Tim grinned.

"I was working on my tablet and it needed to update, so starting it might still take a bit."

"No worries, I can start talking. Or you can. The thing is, Dick sent me on a small mission yesterday connected to a Titan's case to find out where the money for Mercer's syndicate in Gotham goes. I found out that some of it goes to Lex Corp., investing in the protection of, apparently, the drugs they now try to ship to Metropolis and then transport to Gotham on land because there had been some tampering with the goods, recently. I'm not sure yet what exactly the tampering looks like, I mean I know one substance is swapped for the other, but I don't yet know what that new substance does thus far. Only that hasn't really helped, either so I don't know why they're still paying Luthor to be able to traffic their drugs via Metropolis. Also, Metropolis's drug trade seems to suffer from the swapping now as well. What I also don't know is whether that's the only cartel suffering from those manipulations in Gotham or whether they're the only ones paying Luthor. In conclusion, I know very little, maybe you can help me a bit with that, and also, why were you interested in Mercer in the first place?" Tim rubbed his eyes. 

"Shit, I half forgot about all that. I'm beside myself, aren't I?" He looked up to Kon, who was standing behind his chair. He smiled softly.

"A bit. You've had a few shitty weeks, to be honest. And that's why it's Cassie's turn to keep an eye on things."

"Only she's not around right now," Tim muttered and turned his attention back to Roy. 

"Kon hasn't been to Metropolis in the last two weeks, so if it's a recent development you'll probably have to take it up with Clark." Roy grimaced and Tim's grin returned. "About everything else... It's a bit of a longer story. We're currently housing more people than usual because there've been... attacks on former Titans around the world. Sometimes they were harmless by comparison, and by harmless, I mean they only burnt the house to the ground and all the property she had, but in some cases, people died. So, we've had an influx of former Titans and we're now trying to figure out who the bastard behind all this might be." Roy gaped. He hadn't known it was that big. He had assumed it was just a small mission, just something that needed to be done but everybody else was too busy or too important to take care of it. Apparently, they've all been busy with damage control and helping the former members to regain their footing, and not on missions at all. "How this is tied to Gotham really shouldn't surprise us, but as you know, when it comes to hiding in plain sight, one criminal more or less in that hell hole doesn't really make much of a difference. Apparently, there's one criminal among our lot that is a bit more intense than we gave him credit for. But every villain needs resources and sheer evil doesn't yet pay any bills, or so I was told. So, we're currently trying to trace the money and sift through Gotham's finest while looking for the guy who's making our lives a living hell." Roy swallowed. This was so much bigger than expected. But he had not seen it. He had spent quite some time in Gotham those last weeks, and he had not seen anything unusual. Except for the Red Hood. Roy frowned at the thought. Could that be possible? Could he be behind arson and murder and what have you? And more importantly, would he be able to do all of this without the Bat noticing any of it?

"Is Batman in on this? I mean, he usually knows who comes and goes in Gotham, right?" Tim shrugged. 

"He hasn't really been consulted, to be honest. He's currently more focused on Gotham than on global matters, so I think I've kept most of this off his radar. I'll... I plan on meeting up with him tomorrow night-"

"Could you do that around midnight?", Roy chimed in. That would keep the Bat off his back for his meeting with the Hood.

"Sure. Any reason?" Roy grimaced.

"I still have some business in Gotham and last time I was there he got a bit sanctimoniously in my face and if I can help it, I don't need a repeat." Tim groaned.

"That man is going to drive me insane. I swear. I give up. I've tried for years and I think early retirement is calling for me. Someone else has Bruce duty." Kon giggled. Roy could understand the sentiment. "Yeah, I'll be there. Back to business, I'll ask him about strange ongoings, and I will carefully tell him about what's going on in here. And get the lecture of my life. _Why haven't you told me earlier?_ ", he said in surprisingly good Bruce imitation and both Roy and Kon chuckled.

"You're really done, aren't you?" Tim moaned pathetically.

"Cassie's set me on coffee withdrawal for forty-eight hours. I'm not responsible for everything that happens until tomorrow morning." Roy raised his eyebrows and looked at Kon.

"He hasn't had any caffeine in a day now?" Kon nodded. "Is this the right time for such an experiment?"

"Tim, tell Roy please how many hours you've slept in the five days before Cassie's order?"

"Ten, I think? Might have been less, I don't have the clearest memories," Tim mumbled.

"Jesus, Tim!"

"And that's why Cassie put him in bed, he slept for eighteen hours straight and ever since wasn't allowed a drop of coffee." Roy shook his head in disbelief.

"That bad?" Tim sighed, Kon nodded. He got the feeling that Kon knew a lot about what else was going on in Tim's life.

"Sorry for my mind being all over the place. I will be more focused tomorrow again. Just... one more day of pure desk duty. I haven't exactly expected you. Sorry, I'm rambling. I can send you the reports about all the incidents that happened to all the Titans because I cannot remember all of this. Too many things going on. About Lex Luthor I know very little, I'm sorry. Since you're in on this now, want to join the meeting in two days? During the day, in fact." Roy nodded. Until then, he might have some more input. "Are you still in on our frequencies? Or mine, or Cassie's at least?" He nodded.

"Former Titan, I don't throw this away." Tim smiled and Roy saw the sadness past the circles under his eyes. He had been burdened with too many things recently. Kon squeezed Tim's shoulder affectionately and Tim leaned against his shoulder. Roy smiled.

"I forgot how affectionate you can get when you're tired, Timbo." Tim flipped him off and Roy laughed. "Can I have a word in private with you, Tim?" Tim turned his head to face Roy.

"If it's me you're worried about, go ahead. There's not much Kon doesn't know at this point."

"About your family?" Tim nodded and Roy settled back down comfortably.

"You're not obliged to tell me anything should you know more than Dick, but... What has happened recently with Bruce?" Tim sat back up again and motioned for Kon to properly sit back on his bed, back leaned against the headrest, and Tim cuddled up against his side. Had they always been that close or was this something new?

"I... I don't think I know the half of it. Something happened a little while ago and I have every reason to assume that the Red Hood is in some way involved. Do you know about him?" Roy nodded.

"Not much though. Only his name and how he funds himself." Tim raised an eyebrow.

"How does he fund himself?"

"Drugs. He took over the corner Black Mask initially wanted to claim. He gets forty per cent and keeps the dealers away from schools and minors."

"How do you know all of that?"

"I investigate the drug trade in Gotham, it came up." Tim nodded.

"I don't know much about him, to be honest, least of all who he is. We went toe to toe with each other and... He's well trained. More than that. He beat me. Hit me real good." Kon squeezed his shoulder. "He doesn't really have any qualms about getting lethal." Roy nodded. He had seen that. "Not surprised?" He sighed.

"After I interrogated the target, the Red Hood appeared. Probably listened in on all of it and I didn't even notice him. After I had returned to my roof to call Dick, he chimed in and... relieved the guy of his head. And went into the warehouse, paraded the head, and warned them to not sell drugs to kids. Which is how I found out about that." Tim bit his lip, lost in thought. 

"Bruce seems not only to leave him alone but also actively avoids him. I don't know why, and I cannot imagine it."

"They ran into each other, once. Something must have happened there. Red Hood said that he... and I cannot believe I believe this, but he said he emotionally damaged Bruce."

"You talked to him?" Roy nodded.

"That and... immediately after, Bruce appeared next to me and told me, whatever I'm doing there, I should keep the Red Hood away from Nightwing. Since I'm still afraid of Batman, I never mentioned it and I'd appreciate if you'd do the same. So far there was no need for Dick to know about that part of the investigation and should that change, I'll tell him immediately, but until then I'd like to keep it low." Tim and Kon both nodded. "Red Hood seemed... either amused or bitter about that." Tim's brows furrowed further.

"It doesn't make any sense. I'm none the wiser. I don't know what happened there. Dick told me..." Tim sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Dick told me that he took Damian in for some time. It was that bad. I think it did Damien some good, even though Dick still worked his day job and getting Damian to school was a nightmare. I'd have asked Alfred about it but... I'm not yet ready for a trip home." Roy nodded.

"No worries, man, I think we both get that." Kon gave him a smirk, bitterness all the way. There were more people with daddy issues in that building than those without them, Roy was sure. "Do you think that the Red Hood is behind all that?" Tim nestled in even closer to Kon, who wrapped his arm around him.

"I don't know. I thought about it, to be honest. That day when things went all wrong... I wasn't there, neither was Damian or Dick because we were so busy keeping the city running. He had planned to blow all of Gotham up it felt like. It was a horrible night, we struggled to keep it together and when we met at the cave again, Bruce was... emotionally distraught fits. We thought he'd been dosed with fear gas. But the Red Hood had it all planned out, knew about Gotham, knew about us..."

"He knows Dick's name. He knows who's behind the mask."

"He mocked me... Said he'd met the previous Robins and that I wasn't worthy of that title. Oh, don't give me that look, my ego recovered. But I thought a lot about the fact that he seemed to have encountered Dick and... and probably Jason. And yet, I can't say who it was. Never mind. I know he'd have the capacity, the anger, the intellect. But you've actually met him. Did he seem... angry?" Roy immediately shook his head.

"No. He was calm, balanced. Frighteningly so, to be honest." Tim nodded.

"It's been months since that incident. Maybe something has changed. You'll talk to him again, right?" There was no judgement in his voice and Roy dared to nod. "Be careful with him, okay, Roy? I trust your judgement but don't trust him too much. Just in case he tries to backstab all of us." Roy nodded. After the most recent revelations, he wasn't sure how much he trusted him. Then again, so far he'd gotten all his intel from him and even trusted him with going to Lex Luthor and gather some more. It was a dangerous game to play. "All right, now get out. I've officially decided to take a nap. Kon, would you be so kind and give Roy access to the reports about everything that's been going on here recently? I'm sure that makes for nice reading material tonight. See you around, Roy."

"See ya, Timmy. And get some sleep." Tim smiled and slid off of Kon and deeper into his pillow. Kon got up from the bed and brought Roy to the main computer.

"How is he doing?" If Kon was surprised by his question, he didn't show it. He shrugged.

"It's hard to say, really. Tim can push everything personal aside when the job requires it and recently, this job has demanded a lot of us. So, I'm not even sure whether he's just working or working to not think about his troubles. But it's good that he sleeps and is agreeable about it. As agreeable as a Tim without coffee will ever be, that is." Roy grinned.

"And you?" Another shrug.

"As I said, it's been hard for us here. New people arrive here almost daily now and we're desperately trying to connect the dots, but... We don't see it yet, and the emotional and physical wellbeing of our visitors occasionally has priority as well. I know that Tim told Dick already, but... Roy, you're a former Titan as well. Everyone who's targeted is or was one of us. When you read the reports, you know what might happen, so keep your eyes open and watch out. Tim's expecting the first casualty any day now and ever since he brought it up, I cannot help but worry." Roy paled. He was both very grateful and absolutely terrified. The good news was that Lian was with her mother, and nobody knew how to hide as well as Cheshire did. But Roy had no possibility of checking in with her. He couldn't make sure whether she was alright. He prayed for Jade that she was. He didn't know what he'd do if Lian died, especially if it was under Jade's protection.

"I'll keep that in mind," he muttered as Kon clicked through the folders until he reached one called Titan attacks and swiftly added Roy to the access list.

"There you go. Doesn't make for light reading, though, let me warn you. But also works as some kind of guest list. Most of the people listed are currently in the tower."

"Got it. Thanks, Kon. I'll see you in two days. Keep an eye on Tim for me and take care of yourself." 

In the lift down, Roy unlocked his phone and opened the most recent picture of Lian. She was the most amazing thing that had ever happened to him. To think that she might for once actually be safer with Jade than with him felt strange, it tugged at his insides in all the wrong ways, but he also felt a little bit calmer about not having her around. If Tim was right - and Tim usually was - then this was something bigger, something that could affect them all and spread from the Titan's tower all the way to Star City. He was not safe at the moment. 

Back home, for the first time in a very long time, his first grasp didn't go for the neck of a bottle but the handle of the fridge. He was surprisingly hungry, but after a cursory glance at its content, he started to boil some water and settled for instant noodles. While lunch was cooking, he set up his laptop and logged into the Titan's server. He'd remembered the pathway and as he opened Titan attacks, his jaw dropped. 

Those weren't only a few names. That was a whole lot of them, a folder for each incident labelled with the date as well. The earliest folder dated back to ten days ago and to his shock belonged to Starfire.

He opened the folder and skimmed the official report quickly. Apparently, she had been the victim of arson. The small house she had built herself had entirely burnt out and with it all that remained from her home. He felt immediately sorry for her. He knew how much it had meant to her to have that house somewhere it wasn't as cold as in New York, to have some space for herself, especially after her breakup from Dick, to create something with her own hands instead of destroying it. And now it was gone, and all the work for nought. 

At the very bottom of the file, there was a short list of known criminals who would fit the MO and Roy recognized a few names and figured that the only MO they had identified was arson. Not even any details on why and where the fire had started, only that it had been there. That was not Tim's style, not at all, and it was a testament to how much they'd had on their hands. What shocked Roy even more was that there were folders with names of the current Titans. Somehow his brain had dismissed the possibility that current Titans might be attacked when Tim had said that former Titans were in danger. Technically speaking, the current Titans always were in danger for one reason or another, that simply came with the job, but that they'd been attacked...

Another thing he noticed was how oddly grateful he was that they had been raised by heroes. Threats to their families only worked on a very limited scale. If some idiot really wanted to go against Tim's or Kon's family, they'd have to take it up with the entire Bat clan or Super clan, respectively, and that was a very stupid idea in Roy's book. But not all of them were that lucky. He was reading through Zatara's file when there was a knock on his window. He got up and opened it, letting Cassie inside.

"That's the kind of visit I haven't had in a long time."

"What kind?"

"Vigilante through window. I take it's not a social call?" Cassie looked hurt as she shook her head.

"No. I know you've been to the tower and talked to Tim and Kon, so I can cut this short. We've had our first casualty within the former team." All blood drained from Roy's face.

"Who is it?"

"Redwing and Mirage." Roy swallowed, nodded. He was somewhat glad that it wasn't someone closer to him, and he felt horrible for it. 

"Fuck. Is there... Is there anything I can do?"

"Stay the hell out of trouble, you hear me?" She tried to grin, but it just looked pained. "Maybe join us at the tower, even. Should the tower be attacked, at least we're there together. Is there," and her eyes swept the room, "anyone close to you who might be in danger?" Roy shrugged uncomfortably. Luckily, Cassie's face remained free of judgement. He knew what she saw. The home of someone who didn't have control over his life anymore.

"Not really. They either can take care of themselves," and he hated how he thought about Ollie at that moment, "or they're... as safe as can be, I assume." Cassie nodded. "I'll join you at the tower. Do we know who's behind it, this time?" Anger flashed over Cassie's face.

"Yeah. Completely different MO, entirely out of their usual spot. Since you know Gotham's underground, I assume you know who Viktor Zsasz is?" Roy's stomach lurched and for a second he was afraid he'd be sick. 

"Yeah." If they had recognized him because of his style... The women hadn't died quickly. He had seen these victims, they were tortured and carved out until you had difficulty recognizing them. "Have you told Dick yet?" She shook her head. 

"He's on my list for tonight. I'll tell him the same. If he doesn't have anyone to keep safe in Blüdhaven, he should join us." Roy wasn't sure whether he'd leave his little brother practically alone.

"Can I... Would you mind if I told him? I don't know whether you know but he had a... his difficulties with Mirage. I wasn't there when it went down but I was there for the aftermath and... he was happy to leave his past with her buried, you know? I'm not sure how he'll react but..." Cassie gave him a sad smile.

"You want to be there for him because you know him better. No worries, I'm not keen on telling people. So, you'll take a detour via Blüdhaven and join us somewhen in the morning?" Roy nodded. Cassie hugged him, climbed out the window and disappeared into the setting sun. Roy grabbed his phone, went through his contacts, and dialled her number. Naturally, he went to voice mail.

"Hey, Jade. I don't even know whether this is still your number. Should this message ever reach you, please call back. I'm afraid Lian might be in considerable danger and... please, be extra careful for a while, okay? Keep our baby safe." He hung up and took a deep breath, forcing the tears that threatened to spill over back down. He'd never been so afraid for someone as he was for Lian in that very moment. Another deep breath and he grabbed a duffel bag and quickly threw in everything he'd need for a longer stay at the tower, then added a second one for his gear.

The drive to Blüdhaven seemed to take forever. It was eerily silent in the car and his thoughts were going a million miles an hour. Luckily, it was only twenty minutes before he arrived that he grew genuinely paranoid, afraid that someone might crash into him in order to off him quickly.

He let himself into Dicks apartment by cracking the lock and entering the code for the alarm that Dick had told him. Zero-four-zero-eight. April eighth. Alfred's birthday. Roy immediately made for Dick's balcony, opened the door, stepped outside, and looked for a sign of Nightwing, but he was nowhere to be seen. Which wasn't surprising. Depending on how busy the streets were, Dick wouldn't be home for another two hours at least. He lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. All he could do was wait.

It was close to three in the morning when Roy heard a key in the lock.

"Dick, it's me, Roy, please don't shoot me," he called out because he knew Bats by now. Had to make that experience twice with Dick and another time with Tim. They noticed when their doors weren't locked and in their constant vigilance, never hesitated to pin you to the ground or next best flat surface or possibly throw a Batarang at you. He had come very close to being electrocuted by Dick as well. 

"Roy? What are you doing here?" Roy was surprised to see Dick already in his civvies, although he assumed it wasn't smart to wander through the building dressed as Nightwing. His lip was split and even in the dim light, Roy could see a bruise starting to form on his cheekbone.

"You okay? You look a bit rough." Dick shrugged.

"Not more than usual, I think."

"I'll get an ice pack. Can I bring you anything else?"

"If you're here to talk this instant, what about some coffee?"

"You got it. Now sit your pretty ass on the couch, I'll be back in a second." It took him a bit longer than that to make the coffee, but eventually, he returned with two mugs and an ice pack. Dick was on the phone, his brows furrowed.

"I'll see what I can do." A pause. "I'll try not to. But your Dad has been trying to - no, Dami, listen, that is not your fault! Hell, even if he was that unhinged because you stepped into his life, he is an adult and should be able to handle this better and cope with the situation, and if it was by talking to someone. God knows that there are enough people willing to support him. This is not your fault, baby bat." Roy grinned at the name. If Damian knew he knew, he'd be dead. "I'll talk to him. And while we're on the family thing, Tim will be in town tomorrow." A pause. "He needs to talk to Bruce about a case." Again, Damian said something. "I don't think that really matters, Dami. Promise me to not make it worse for him? Hell, you two could for once gang up on Bruce and force him to make some sense. You underestimate the power two Robins have together. I'll have to tell you about the things I managed to pull off with Jason when we-" Dick interrupted himself. "Never mind. Go to bed, Dami, catch some sleep, and after a proper breakfast tomorrow, things will look a bit brighter." Damian seemed to reply something, then he ended the call.

"It'll mostly be brighter because Alfred always knows when we had a fight with Bruce, so he makes sure we get an incredibly delicious breakfast, but I guess it's always been the little things, huh?", Dick said to no one in particular. Roy smiled.

"You're cute with him. Bruce giving him a hard time again?" Dick rolled his eyes.

"You don't know the half of it. That man seems to display for once the typical symptoms of not being mentally well - that means there are a lot of good days when he's his usual self, and then there are the bad days, like today. Only he doesn't seem to have either the ability or the level of self-reflection to recognize the bad days and take it easy on himself at that time. Because why should he? I'm so glad Tim hasn't learned that trait from him." Roy could only agree. While he wasn't close enough to Tim to know any specifics, he knew that he'd had some serious mental health troubles in the past - and he'd done the smart thing and got help. And while sometimes it didn't much look like it - Roy had to think about the sleep deprivation - he knew how to take care of himself, knew when to say no, knew when to trust his friends in taking care of him. Something Bruce could only dream of being brave enough to do.

"What brings you here, in the middle of the night?", Dick interrupted his thoughts. Roy sighed.

"Can't believe I simply missed you?" Dick smiled and took a sip of his coffee.

"No offence, but if you missed me badly enough to show up on my doorstep at I don't even know when it's probably because of something that's entirely not me." Roy huffed and nodded. True. The last times this had happened was because he'd been afraid to do something stupid if he was alone - namely, using again. Or because being alone felt too overwhelming after spending so much time not living alone. When he missed Dick, he rang him up and they met at reasonable hours. 

"True. Not a social visit. How much do you know about the things that happen at the Titan's tower currently?" Dick raised his eyebrow.

"Tim told me most of it. I just didn't know you knew."

"I was there this morning. That mission you sent me on leads me to Metropolis and I rather talk to Kon than Clark, so I thought I'd pay him a visit. And then they told me what went down those last ten days and... yeah. So, you know that former Titans are being targeted?" Dick nodded, his lips a thin line.

"Did something happen to you?"

"Me? No, not me and no one I love. I haven't been targeted. Granted, I still have no clue where she is, but... well, I try not to think about it. I left a message on Jade's voice mail today if that's still the phone she uses. But... Cassie visited me earlier and told me that there had been the first death among our lines and..." Dick paled. "Redwing and Mirage are dead, Dick." Dick's face remained blank for a while and Roy could almost see how difficult it was to process that. In the end, the tears won out and Dick's grip on his mug tightened until his knuckles went white. It seemed to take him a lot of effort to simply set the mug down, and as soon as he did, he grabbed a pillow and buried his face in it to muffle a scream. Roy got up and sat down next to him, carefully touching his shoulder. Dick immediately gave in to the impulse and tipped over, leaned against Roy with his entire weight and let himself be held as sobs wracked his entire body.

Roy had known that Dick had deep trauma concerning Mirage, so he wasn't surprised about any of this. He hadn't known how he'd react, whether he'd be sad, angry, bitter... That woman had violated him in an unforgivable way and while Dick had chosen not to overthink any of it, it had left a deep scar not only on him but also on Kory and the relationship they'd had back then.

Slowly, Dick calmed down a bit in his arms and tried to readjust their position. Eventually, he'd manoeuvred Roy with his back against the armrest of the couch, legs stretched out and Dick lying between them, head against his chest.

"I didn't think I'd be that angry," Dick said eventually, and Roy pressed a kiss to the crown of his head. "I was so disgusted with her and me and just hoped to never have to see that woman again and now... I'm angry she's dead and I'm angry at me for being relieved that she's dead and I can't believe-" Roy hushed him gently, saw the tears running down his cheeks again.

"It's okay to feel that way. Honestly, I was relieved myself. I didn't like her because of the things she did to you but also... When Cassie told me it was someone from the old team I was just so relieved it wasn't you, or Wally, or Donna, or any of the Titans I'm still actually close with. I feel horrible for that because I'm sure that for some of us, she still was that kind of friend. But... it's okay to feel that way, I think. And if it isn't, I'm not judging you and I don't think anybody else will." Roy absent-mindedly ran his fingers over Dick's back, soothing him.

"Are you gonna stay the night?" Dick asked gently and Roy hugged him a little closer.

"Sure thing, sweet cheeks. But let's get a little comfier first, huh?" Dick nodded but didn't move for another ten minutes before he let go of Roy and went for the bathroom. Roy, in his infinite wisdom, had left his duffel bag in the car but it wasn't as if Dick minded him borrowing a shirt to sleep in, although it looked ridiculously tight on him. Since it actually made Dick giggle, Roy figured his ego could just about take that hit.

"Get in bed, hot stuff," Dick grinned and Roy rolled his eyes affectionately. They settled back into pretty much the same position they'd been in on the couch, Dick resting his head on Roy's chest and Roy gently letting his hands wander over Dick's back and through his hair.

"What will you be doing next?", Dick asked him.

"I'll be joining them at the tower for now. Driving back and forth will be a pain in the backside, but we'll make do. Maybe the solar-powered plane they'd been working on is finally functional because that would make things a lot easier. But I seem to be accidentally in on the case now and Cassie's right, if shit's about to hit the fan it's no better or worse when we're already assembled."

"Those her words?" Roy snorted.

"Sure, you know Cassie. Cursing like a farmer."

"I don't think I've ever heard Clark curse." For a moment, there was stunned silence.

"Jeez, Dick, thanks for that image. I'd pay to hear that. Clark going full-on Kansas farm boy. It's glorious." Dick giggled. "You won't be joining, right?" He felt Dick shake his head.

"Not with Bruce going batshit again, pun intended. Damian deserves better than what he gives him, and I cannot believe I'm saying this, but apparently even irresponsible I is currently better." Roy smiled.

"Dick, though I wouldn't trust you with my goldfish if I had one, you'd make a great dad." Another giggle.

"You think?"

"Oh, I know you'd kill a goldfish just by looking at him." Dick suddenly started to tickle him, and Roy squirmed. "Stop, Dick, please! Yes, I think you'd make a great dad. I mean, you're a good uncle for Lian." Dick relented and Roy's breath slowly calmed down. The gravity of his statement sunk in and he swallowed, hugged Dick a bit tighter.

"I miss the munchkin," Dick said quietly and tears formed at the corners of Roy's eyes.

"Me too," was all he could say, and he felt Dick reciprocating his squeeze. "Come on, it's late. Close your eyes." Dick nodded against his chest. Then:

"Roy?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> I appreciate comments and kudos and I'll be back next Thursday with a new chapter!


	3. A New Responsibility

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are finally moving along and task forces are built to find the mastermind behind the attacks. All of that would be a lot easier if Roy's investigations weren't repeatedly interrupted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some action!  
> Things are picking up now, though not in the way one might expect.  
> The chapter got a bit long, I think, but I hope you don't mind that.

"How did he take it?" Tim was sitting on the opposite side of the table, cradling a cup of coffee. He looked a lot better than he had yesterday, and Roy hadn't been afraid to say so. 

"It went as quickly as it came. He was angry, mostly, but not only at her or that she was dead but also at himself."

"Why at himself?"

"Same as me. We were both relieved it was her. He probably more than I was, but... I was just glad it wasn't him, or you, or Wally, or Donna, or someone I'm close to. Dick is now sure that he'll never have to see her again." Tim nodded. 

Leaving Dick this morning had been difficult. Roy knew that he'd think about it as soon as he was alone and not properly occupied and usually that led to him exhausting himself until he passed out. He had kindly asked him to take care of himself and to call him whenever it was necessary and to not blame himself, but deep down he knew that Dick was only a little better at self-care than Roy was. Or a little smarter and not better at all.

"I'll go and check in with Kory. You said we'll meet up at three?" Tim nodded.

"Yeah, whoever feels like they're good to go and want to help is welcome to do so. It'll be tedious planning because this is... bigger than everything we've encountered before, I think, and Cassie and I need to plan a little ahead."

"Then I won't keep you any longer. See you around, Timmy." He tousled his hair, Tim shot him one of his less scary glares, and Roy was off to look for the room of the Tamaranean princess.

It took him some time until he found her and he realized that it really had been a while since he'd been here. Then again, even back then he'd had seldomly come to this part of the tower. He knocked.

"Who's there?"

"Roy. I brought you coffee." There was silence and Roy almost expected to be turned down when the door was opened and Kory peeked out. She took a closer look at the two cups, saw that one of them had a nice, light brown colour, and stepped aside to let him in.

The rooms on this floor all looked the same and all reminded Roy of very basic hotel rooms. There was a small bathroom with a shower, the room itself was equipped with a queen-size bed, a small desk with a chair, and a telly, as well as a sideboard and a bedside table. Kory sat down on her bed, so Roy took the desk chair and handed her her coffee. She breathed in the scent, took a tentative sip - and smiled.

"Thanks. You remember." Roy smirked.

"Couldn't forget it if I tried. How are you doing?" Her smile faltered.

"As well as expected, I assume."

"Which is to say I am very relieved to not find you burning this world to the ground because, honestly, I'd understand." She smiled weakly.

"Thought about it, but no. Don't get me wrong, I want justice. But this team has done a lot to teach me the meaning of justice. And that of revenge." Roy nodded gravely. "I assume you have heard about yesterday's tragedy?"

"Yes."

"I assume that's why you're here." He shook his head.

"No. I'm here because for all the distance between us, you've always been my friend, and that friend's just lost her home. And experienced the loss of someone she knew as well, come to think of it, though I'm not one to dictate you how to feel about that." A smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Thanks. I... I feel absolutely nothing, to be honest. Neither for Mirage nor for Redwing. And I don't feel particularly bad about that, either. Losing my home..." A brave smile crossed her face and she shrugged. "It's an odd sense of déjà-vu. Whoever did this to me is going to pay."

"So I guess you'll be in on the team?" She nodded.

"I need to do something." He understood that.

"How are you doing, Roy?" 

"I don't think I'm doing fine but... for the first time in six months, I'm glad my baby is with her mother and not with me. That eases the pain a little, to be honest. Other than that... I'm mostly worried about my friends."

"How is Dick doing?" That surprised him. He'd expected Kory to avoid Dick altogether. 

"Uhm... I'm not entirely sure. He's been running thin recently because Bruce is being an emotional wreck again and he takes care of his baby brother while working and being Nightwing and the news yesterday brought something up he'd wanted to be left buried until the day he died, I think." She nodded.

"That was the only reason I felt bad. Because I feel like I wronged him back then. I was so wrapped up in my own emotions... I couldn't handle it for what it was back then and later... I didn't want to tear old scars open, for his sake, you know. Maybe now's the time to say sorry." Roy nodded slowly. Again, he was surprised. He wasn't used to that level of openness and emotional reflection from Kory. Then again, difficult times always brought up things you didn't expect from other people. Nobody had pegged him for a potential addict either until it was too late. He needed a smoke. Was there a balcony anywhere?

"How long have you been here?"

"A week now. Why?"

"Do you know where an accessible balcony is?" He patted his pocket, not hiding his intentions.

"Yes, I can bring you there." She got up, slipped into a pair of sneakers and held the door for Roy. "I thought you've given that nasty habit up?", she asked in the elevator. Roy shrugged.

"Never truly, I guess. For the last year, it was only ever when I was really stressed out. After I was alone again, it... kinda became a pastime, I guess." His thoughts wandered to the bottle he had hidden in his duffle bag, and he was suddenly aware that his hands were trembling mildly. Well, if that didn't come in handy. From experience, he knew that this always led to more hand to hand combat whenever he was out in the field instead of his usual ranged attacks. He couldn't shoot an arrow straight with trembling hands but he could still punch someone in the face. Easy as that. Didn't mean he was less ashamed.

Kory brought him up to the roof and Roy had to smile. It wasn't exactly a balcony but it was more than suitable for having a smoke.

"Don't get too comfy up here, though. Meeting starts in ten and I'd hate to be late," she said as he lit his cigarette.

"You got it, princess."

They ended up being just in time but that was mostly because the damn elevator didn't come and for some reason, neither of them knew of any alternative routes downstairs. Roy looked around the room and saw that almost every Titan he ever knew was there. Dick had joined them via video call, Damian sitting next to him. Roy stepped next to Tim who was hooking up the sound system to his laptop.

"May I?", Roy asked, wanting to get a word in private with Dick - not that there hadn't been any those last days. Tim nodded and crawled under the desk, probably looking for a socket. He snatched the headset.

"Hey you two. Do my eyes deceive me or are you at the manor?" Dick smirked.

"I actually am, yes. Figured it wouldn't be the most stupid thing I've done those last days." Probably not. "But don't worry, unless Bruce is really trying or can convince Barbara that we're in immediate danger if she doesn't hack this computer, he shouldn't be listening in."

"I didn't ask," Roy said with a grin. "So Oracle's not joining?" Dick shook his head.

"She's in deep with the birds somewhere. She said she's gonna catch up with the reports and help us out as soon as she has the capacity, but for now, we'll need to get on without them." Next to him, Damian clicked his tongue.

"I don't know why Drake needs to involve so many people anyway," he muttered and Dick turned around to face him directly.

"Because we've got a large area to cover, that's why. It's not as if it's only one city, it's half the country. And also, those are all capable people who want to assure that they get justice for what's been done to them."

"-tt- If they were capable, they wouldn't have been wronged." Roy wished he could see Dick's face at that moment.

"That's not true and you know it. Or would you think, now that you know her and have seen her fight, that Barbara had it coming?" Damian actually avoided Dick's gaze and crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking exactly as young as he was. "And I know you didn't know him and I assume you've been told otherwise, but before you put your foot in your mouth around Bruce or Tim or even me, for that matter: Jason wasn't incapable, either." Damian's glare snapped back to Dick but through the camera, Roy couldn't properly see his expression. Tim came up from under the table, one end of an auxiliary cable in his hand. 

"Could you plug it in? And warn Dick, maybe?"

"Sure. Dick, sorry to interrupt, but we're going live, so unless you mute your mic right about now the entire Titans alumni can hear you." Dick turned back to the camera with a sigh and gave Roy a thumbs up. Roy pushed the plug in, Tim added another one to the mix and shut his laptop. The picture of Dick on the big holo screen didn't waver.

"Dick, can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, little bird." Dick's voice resonated over the speaker system and someone - Donna? - cooed over the pet name.

"Great. Now I lost the last modicum of respect my team had for me as well. Thanks, dick." Dick grinned and Damian clicked his tongue but remained silent.

"Really creative, Tim. Have never heard that one before."

"Now that I know you can hear us," Tim continued, "tell me who in this room looks best so that I'm sure you can see all of us." 

"Do you want me to start the next Trojan war? We can see you, don't worry."

To Roy's disappointment, most of the meeting was about bringing everybody up to date. Though he was surprised that he apparently knew about everything there was to know, it was a rather boring, monotonous affair. Eventually, it came to group in task forces, assigning the workload and grouping up. Since Roy already had his task, there wasn't much news in that either, but he was appointed leader of one team as well - something he hadn't seen coming, either. He was now somehow responsible for the Gotham/Blüdhaven area and hence in the same team as Tim, Dick, Damian, and Rose - and technically he knew that Spoiler would have his back as well, same as Cass and besides Barbara maybe even Kate. In other words, he had a large team of badass people and had no clue why he was apparently leading it now.

The teams were dismissed, team leaders agreed to meet every day in the evening before they went out for patrol or recon missions or whatever leg work was necessary and Roy watched as the people slowly filtered out of the exit until only he, Tim, and Rose were there, Dick and Damian still on the screen.

"Welcome to the party, this is going to be fun," Roy sighed before he grabbed a seat.

"May I?" He pointed at Tim's laptop and Tim nodded. "I assume that you only gave me this team because you and Cassie are doing the supervision, right?" He nodded again. "So you'll probably assign the incidents to each team as soon as we're done here and it would be redundant if I tried to do so now, right?" Tim smiled.

"Not bad, Arsenal, not bad at all. Yes, I'll be assigning the cases, some cases will require two teams to work together. For example, the most recent and most severe case so far."

"Redwing and Mirage." Tim nodded.

"This is the only case I'm aware of where we're as certain as can be about who did it. And it's one of our own house-bred villains, so I think it would do good to look around Gotham a bit and gather intel. Where has he been, who were his contacts, why is that maniac out on the loose in general, such things. I suggest that Damian filters through Bruce's case files for recent mentions and-"

"Sorry to interrupt you, Tim, but... I don't know who killed them." Tim's gaze flicked to Roy for a split second, too quick for him to react in any way. Roy had figured that Dick had been upset enough by the news itself, there hadn't been a need to cut in any deeper.

"All evidence suggests it was Viktor Zsasz." All air rushed out of Dick and Tim's face softened. "You okay, Boy Wonder?" Dick cleared his throat several times.

"Yeah. I think so."

"You knew them well?", Rose chimed in, and Dick's posture stiffened.

"Not really, no. We simply... We have history, let's leave it at that." Rose shrugged.

"Sure."

"Damian, do you think you can try to track him in Bruce's case files without him noticing?"

"-tt- Of course, Drake. I'm not an amateur."

"Okay, Dick and Damian, you'll be routinely patrolling tonight, Roy and I have our tasks in Gotham as well. Rose, would you mind setting up in one of our safehouses in Gotham and being mission control? Only for tonight since I need to be out in the field. Tomorrow, we'll reconvene no matter which way." Roy had grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled Red Hood? on it and slid it over to Tim, who minutely shook his head. "We'll be on our way to Gotham as soon as I've got things handled here." Dick nodded.

"Okay. Give me a call and I can come over, help you set up. Don't work too hard, yeah, little bird? Cassie did a good job on you." Tim smirked.

"I'll try. Thanks, Dick. See you around." He ended the call.

"First of all, is it necessary for me to know what was there between Mirage and Redwing and Dick or is that really his business, and second, what is it with that slip of paper?" Rose wanted to know as soon as Dick couldn't listen in anymore. Tim and Roy exchanged a quick glance, and Roy shrugged.

"You don't need to know about Dick. That wasn't in any way mission-related. And Roy slid me this," Tim showed her the note, "because he wanted to know whether it was necessary for Dick to know about his involvement." Tim quickly filled her in on Roy's exchanges with the Red Hood so far.

"So you wanna tell me you tell me all this but not Boy Wonder?", she asked incredulously.

"Rose, no offense, but in the Bruce-gives-a-fuck game you're playing in my league, and not Grayson's," Roy said dryly and Rose chuckled.

"True. I take it the little one isn't in on it, either?" They shook their heads. In Roy's opinion, Damian had enough on his platter as it was. Also, that kid could be obnoxious if he put his mind to it, and Roy was pretty sure Damian didn't like him. "Are you sure you two want to go out tonight and leave me to set up camp? Because I'm pretty sure one of you could do twice as much in half the time it'd take me." Tim smiled.

"If all goes well, I'll be back as soon as I get things settled with Bruce and be there to help you. Depending on what Damian and Roy find out, there'll be a new thing to investigate and you can leave the nest. Plus, Bruce will know you're in the area by then so he shouldn't ambush you. Since we're already on the issue, Red Hood might ambush you and should he decide he doesn't like you...try not to fight him, okay? I know it sounds stupid, but for one, he’s an informant, and two, he doesn't fit in anywhere. Maybe that's going to be another side mission. Find out who the Red Hood is." Roy was appalled and intrigued by this idea in equal amounts. Because if someone would try to find out his secret identity, he'd make sure he wouldn't dare to tell the tale.

"No offense, Tim, but let's bench that for a bit. You said you went toe to toe with him and I don't think he's a guy who'd appreciate someone digging in his past and - you know he's not exactly careful with people. Let's just... not alienate him in case he finds out." Tim thought about it a few seconds before he nodded.

"You're right and I'm too curious for my own good. Out with you, I need to get some stuff done. We'll meet in the basement in three hours sharp." Roy glanced at his watch because he knew Tim and when he said three hours sharp he meant it.

"Wanna grab a smoke?", Rose asked unexpectedly, and Roy nodded.

"Where are you going for that? I've only been back for a few hours."

"Roof terrace. Let me show you." And once again, Roy found himself atop the roof - only this time, it looked vastly different. 

"There are two parts to the roof," he mumbled, and Rose nodded.

"Yeah. The hangar and the terrace. I like it up here. Eddie used to join me, when he was around."

"I haven't seen him downstairs. Is he all right?" Rose nodded.

"Yeah. Got back on his feet, fortunately. He'll be joining us soon, he just has a longer trip to make. He was over in L.A., paying Blue Devil a visit or something. He's promised me to lay low for a bit, after what happened with the Clock King, so I hope it really merely is a social visit." Roy smiled. It was nice to see her care so much.

"What about your brothers? In touch with them?" Rose shrugged.

"With Joey, yes, but we always got along better. Joey once joked that maybe Grant had to loose his hearing to get in on our jokes. Grant didn't like it that much. Says we shouldn't be joking about it, that it's serious, but... What does he know, right? What about you? You currently in touch with Ollie?" Roy cringed.

"Not since Cheshire has shown up and taken Lian. He blames me for not fighting for her and some other things and... What does he know, right? And she's her mother, I don't want to deny her the right to see her kid. And right now, I'm glad she's with her and not with me because apparently, we're all being targeted and... I don't want my baby to be dragged into this. Granted, no villain should even know she exists, but... That doesn't mean I'm not worried about her, right? What about your Dad?" Rose snorted and took another drag from her cigarette before she answered.

"We're all civil right now, so that's a good thing, I guess. He checks in on us but doesn't get involved, so actually he's being a good parent for once. This is a right shit show, huh?" Roy nodded. "What about that Red Hood guy?"

"I really don't know. From what I know of him I'd put him on our side of things - a little too grey to be called white. I haven't seen him do much but the few reports that exist of him and that I've had access to... He hasn't done much wrong in a long time, I'd say. I mean, yeah, sure, he's running the drug trade, but he also keeps his area clean, you know? No drugs to kids, stopped a few muggings and attempted rapes and... I get the feeling we don't know the half of it, but apparently he's not above using his connections to get me some more intel."

"Likes your pretty face, huh?," Rose grinned and Roy actually blushed.

"I don't know why he does it. Not for a lack of trying to figure it out, trust me. But why would he care for the Titans? It's probably just because one of his traders is investing in something big that he doesn't know about. I mean, after all, it threatens his income, right?"

"His income and Gotham citizens, as far as I understood it." Roy nodded. He hadn't even thought of that. Nobody usually had any empathy with the addicts that consumed the rotten goods and possibly killed themselves in the process. Apparently, Rose was one of the few exceptions. 

"All right, I need to grab my stuff, and say some goodbyes. See you in two hours and a bit in the basement," she said and left for the elevators. After a few minutes in silence, Roy got up to follow her example.

The drive to Gotham was tedious, mostly because Tim was on the phone almost the entire time, either talking to someone from the team or at Wayne Enterprises, who were awaiting his return.

"I haven't been gone for too long, I have saved up what feels like three years worth of vacation and I have digitally joined every damned important meeting," he muttered. He had slipped out of his shoes, pulled his legs to his chest and was now resting his forehead on his knees. "My presence cannot possibly be as important as they would like me to think. I'm not even twenty-two."

"You're not even twenty-two and a damned genius, Timmy," Roy smiled. "They know exactly what they have in you."

"Yeah, so is Bruce. And it's his blasted company."

"But Bruce is moody as fuck and has a persona. You're calm and controlled and just."

"Oh, trust me, I've had my moments."

"I believe that. But worse than Bruce?" Tim sighed. Roy knew he was right. As unhealthy as it occasionally was, Tim managed to bury his personal issues under a layer of professionalism - something he'd learned from Bruce. And yet, Bruce's emotional integrity got worse and worse. Maybe it was his age, maybe the amount of tragedy and bullshit, maybe he was sick, maybe something went actually horribly wrong. Roy wasn't even sure he wanted to know.

They'd agreed to use one of Tim's larger safe houses in the Coventry. One that luckily both had underground parking, elevators, and easy access to the roof. Sometimes the city actually made being a vigilante a bit easier for you.

"Prepare for your energy bill to spike through the roof if you want to set all of this up." Tim raised an eyebrow and Rose chuckled. "True, who am I talking to. I'll do the groceries because I don't think there's anything edible in that fridge."

"Probably not but check the cabinets before we end up with too much noodles or rice or something."

"I don't believe in the concept of too much food, but sure. Especially if Dick will be popping in and out as well." Roy could see her point.

"Bring two boxes of cereal for him. Please." Rose giggled and left for the kitchen, and Roy and Tim started setting up their very own den.

"Didn't Dick say Oracle was out of town on a mission? Why can't we use the Clocktower?"

"Oh she's on a mission all right, but not out of town. For this one it wasn't necessary for her to leave her nest and with the wheelchair she needs to check too many things because she's sure she can properly make the journey. And since the birds took off in a heartbeat I don't think there was much time for proper planning. So the Clocktower is actually occupied and if push came to shove we could absolutely count on her being there for us." That thought was oddly calming to Roy. Not that he'd ever had close contact with the former Batgirl but the sheer amount of faith the Bats put in her told Roy all he needed to know. It didn't hurt that she was damn smart to boot.

A knock on the door startled Roy out of his thoughts.

"You invited someone?" Tim laughed.

"You could say so. Get the door for me?" Roy went to the door, checked through the peephole who it was - and smiled.

"Hey, boy wonder," he said and found himself in a Dick Grayson octopus hug a second later.

"Good to see you." Roy didn't point out that they had seen each other about twenty-four hours prior. Crazy times like this fucked with your brain, after all. To Roy's surprise, Damian trailed into the apartment behind Dick.

"Uhm, hey kid." Damian huffed and clicked his tongue.

"Harper." Roy raised his eyebrows. This was bound to be fun.

It felt good to be out on the roofs again, felt even better knowing that he didn't have to worry about Batman this time around. Tim would keep him busy, or so he had promised. It was two to midnight when the Red Hood landed on the bridge in front of him.

"Arsenal."

"Hood." It felt almost tentative. As if their encounter was something that by all means shouldn't have happened and now they were confused why they actually were there, again. "Got any news for me?" The red helmet nodded.

"I hope you don't have any plans for tomorrow night. We expect another shipment. I'm not exactly keen on doing this with you, but doing this alone is probably stupid." To say Roy was surprised was an understatement. "Nobody has been warned, so we need to keep an eye on the crew and the harbour workers. Meet me tomorrow at eleven atop the building Livingston street corner Freeman Avenue." Roy furrowed his brows. 

"That's up at North Point, right?" Another nod.

"Forgot you weren't bred here. Yeah."

"Think we need someone else for the job?"

"If you think I'd leave the Bat in on this-"

"Jesus fuck, no, I'm not suicidal. I could offer Ravager, though. And Red Robin, though this is Bat territory."

"No. Just the two of us." Roy left it alone.

"Did you meet up with Lex Luthor?"

"If you'd like to call it that. He wasn't really impressed with me, not that I give a fuck. I haven't found out what he was building or inventing to protect the goods, but I plan on giving Metropolis another go somewhen this week, without him noticing. He wasn't really forthcoming on any of my points, only said that I ruined his business."

"So very little news on that front." Red Hood nodded.

"Any new theories on your end?" Roy shrugged.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought though I really don't yet know how it all ties together. How can flooding Gotham's streets with bad drugs help someone get back at the Titans?"

"This is about the Titans?" For a second, Roy could swear that he sounded delighted.

"Seems like it. Why? Does it amuse you?"

"Not as much as it should, I can assure you. Who's being targeted?"

"Everybody. All over the country. They seem to try and find the pressure points on us and press them. Since that's easier on all of us who don't have a secret identity, they're going there first. But it’s a matter of time. Also, they're acting way out of their comfort zone."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not one guy doing this and we're pretty sure that Zsasz killed someone all the way down in Texas." There was a moment of silence. 

"Tell me again how the bird brain thought they are tied together?", Red Hood eventually asked.

"Something about the money."

"But it's not Luthor because Luthor doesn't really benefit from his drugs being tampered with, either, and the money he gets paid for safekeeping doesn't compensate for the potential losses. So whoever this is doesn't mind bringing people like me or Luthor up against him. I might pay someone another visit tonight. Should I not be there tomorrow, light a candle and try to find a new informant, all right?"

"Good God, what have you planned?" Hood cocked his head.

"Paying the Black Mask a visit." Roy blinked several times.

"Are you out of your damned mind?" He shrugged.

"If this is what it looks like, he either despises that guy as well or he's in on the joke. My money's on the latter, so if you want a name somewhen this century, I don't know what's disagreeing with you there."

"That you want to go into your rival's lair without backup or a plan, for that matter!"

"Aw, Arsenal, I didn't know you cared." Roy sputtered.

"As you said, you're the only informant I've got thus far. I'm not exactly keen on doing this myself." Red Hood put a hand over his heart and Roy swore he could hear his smile.

"You have a way to break a man's heart. So what, you're joining? Or where exactly is this going?" Before Roy could come up with an answer, he simply witnessed how the Red Hood toppled over, and before he could get a hand on any kind of weapon, he heard a voice that made him freeze right where he stood.

"My, my, not only do you two take forever to chat, you also become quite careless." He whirled around and, more pro forma than for actual use, whipped out bow and arrow and aimed it at the woman.

"Where is she?"

"Safe. Don't wet your pants."

"I'm sorry, but I haven't exactly expected seeing you ever again," he snarled.

"It was never my intention to keep her from you indefinitely. Do we really want to discuss this here?"

"I'm kind of in the middle of something."

"Right. Don't you want to introduce us?" Roy shot a glance at the Red Hood who had freed himself from the surujin almost as quickly as hed gotten tangled up in it. 

"Red Hood, Cheshire. Cheshire, Red Hood." Jade raised her eyebrows. 

"Is he even in your line of work, Arsenal?"

"Were you? And anyway, don't let that be your concern. Can we make this short?" She shrugged.

"Sure. I need you to take her back in. I've been in the focus of several well aimed attacks. I might have shaken them off for a bit but I am not sure at all. She's not safe around me right now. I start to think she never will be." Roy paled.

"Can you pin these attacks on an incidence? Did you steal someone's contract, got to a mark too early, Lord knows what?" She shook her head.

"I've been thrown off guard. It's not any legal institution, either, or the Titans, the JLA, or any of those freakshows. Not a mercenary, as far as I know. And I don't think I've pissed anyone off enough to take it up with me." Roy shook his head. This couldn't be happening. 

"It might be me."

"What? Arsenal, I admire your confidence, but-"

"Titans have been targeted. Two of them have died. Their houses were burned down, loved ones were killed. You are the closest thing to a pressure point everyone in the business might know about. They don't know that she's mine, they know we were involved. Those last days I'd thought for the first time she might be safer with you than she ever was with me."

"I don't mean to interrupt your reunion but it seems we're getting company," the mechanical voice suddenly said and Roy whirled around to follow the Red Hood's gaze. Dark dressed figures climbed up the pillar.

"Who are they?"

"I have a suspicion. Let's hope I'm wrong," Red Hood said to Roy's surprise. 

"They're not the birds, though, right?"

"How did you manage to get on the wrong side with the Birds of Prey? And figured it was a good idea to return to Gotham?"

"I thought if I kept close enough to you, I'd be fine." Roy huffed. Great plan.

"It looks like the League." 

"I haven't been involved with them, ever," Jade justified herself immediately. Roy stepped up to the corner and aimed his arrow downwards.

"I cannot possibly shoot them in that height without killing them," he muttered and that odd cackle came from the helmet next to him.

"You heroes and your moral hangups."

"Well, why have you not shot them yet."

"Two simple reasons: I don't want to. Yet. Second: They wouldn't approach us from such a disadvantageous position if they didn't have an ace up their sleeve." He fired in their vague direction, obviously meaning for it to be a warning shot, and in half a second later something landed amidst them and detonated. "Hold your breath!," Red Hood commanded and Roy gladly took him up on it. A greyish-green fog spread between them and Jade was quick to kick the cartouche from the pillar they were standing on. The mechanical voice next to him was shouting something that sounded to Roy's untrained ears like arabic. To his surprise, a different voice answered. Roy looked down the edge again to gauge their progress as he heard a yelp from behind. He whirled around only to see Jade being brought to the ground. It didn't take her more than two seconds to free herself from the grapple, grab her tambo and smack it into a very specific point at the attacker's throat. He went limp immediately, but Jade wasn't relieved.

"I breathed it in. What is this?" Roy didn't know, had trusted his gut and Red Hood's words to stay away from it. The conversation in arabic still continued and Roy had seldomly been more confused. The first man clad entirely in black hefted his weight over the corner. Red Hood had stepped away from the edge but kept his guns firmly trained on the man. A woman followed who stood down for now as well. They talked for a bit, until he heard Jade breathing rapidly behind him.

"Don't touch her, she'll probably attack you," Red Hood said calmly as Roy reached for her. "Cheshire, you've been dosed with fear gas. Whatever you see, it's not real. Mostly. It'd be grand if you didn't move or I might feel obligated to swan dive after you and save your sorry ass. Anyway, they really are with the League, they really are after Cheshire as per some sort of contract."

"Do they know where my safe house is?," Jade forced out. Her voice was strangled and Roy saw she was sweating in the chilly Gotham air. 

"Do you?" Red Hood asked the man and got a reply in arabic in return. "They do. A second troupe is there. Why? Got something precious there?" Jade's eyes met Roy's and Roy knew what was coming before she even said it.

"She's there, Roy. Please, go get her. Rope Street corner Flower Street, apartment nine on the seventh floor. I'll try to follow but I might still have business with these guys. Hood, can they call them off? I'll surrender, I don't give a fuck about this, but don't let them get to the apartment." After a quick exchange, Red Hood shook his head.

"No can do. I have a bike, I can get you there," he offered to Roy and Roy nodded. "Cheshire, I've convinced them to wait one more day to execute their order. You owe me one big time, just so you know." And with that, Red Hood grabbed Roy tightly around the waist. "Hold on tight," was the only warning he got before Red Hood threw them both off the pillar. Roy held on tightly to the man his daughter's life suddenly depended on and prayed that this wasn't the most stupid thing he did today. He felt the harsh tug as Hood's grappling hook took hold and yanked them forward. They landed rather softly on the ground, directly in front of a red bike. Red Hood didn't hesitate a second, swung a leg over the seat, toppled the stand and kickstarted it. "Hop on."

They sped down the streets of Gotham, with no care in the world for traffic lights.

"Red, you in?"

"Arsenal?"

"I'm in a tight place. Can you put me through to Oracle? She's the only one safe right now." He felt the Hood stiffen at that in front of him. Another secret buried there, he mused.

"Sure." Roy was eternally grateful for Tim not questioning a thing.

"Oracle to Arsenal, what's up?"

"I need to bring something to you, could you let us in?"

"What is it?"

"Cheshire dropped something off because it wasn't safe anymore and I might be followed."

"Shit. Yes, of course. Let Red pick you up, he'll bring you here."

"Will do. Thanks, BG." The line dropped and Roy rejoined Tim.

"Tim, I need a pickup at Flower Street corner Rope ASAP with a drop off at the Clocktower."

"I can be there in T minus ten, be safe till then."

"Thanks." The line dropped and Roy clung a little tighter to the Red Hood, trying to calm his anxious thoughts. She'd be fine when he got there. She had to be.

Roy swore he'd never sprinted up to the seventh floor faster in his life. To his surprise, Red Hood was still on his heels, though he had no reason to be. When Roy saw the same greyish-green fog quell from an open apartment door, he felt as if he'd been punched in the gut.

"Lian," he breathed and ran. 

The fog had already risen above hip level. People clad in the same black clothes were systematically searching the apartment. One of them had a crying girl on their arm, pressing a hand over her mouth and nose.

"Let go of her!", Roy demanded and before he knew what happened, a shuriken was buried in his shoulder. He cursed and hoped it wasn't poisoned as well. Over his shoulder came that mechanical voice again that almost calmed him at this point, quickly speaking in what Roy was by now convinced was arabic. After only half a minute, Red Hood turned towards him.

"This is taking too long. Think you can take them on?" And before he could answer, he had fired two shots, making two assassins drop to the floor. Roy ducked into the bathroom for cover and grabbed the first person who approached the door, knocking him out quickly and effectively. A second one followed instantly, throwing another shuriken that by a very lucky move imbedded itself in the thigh of the man Roy had just knocked out. She put up a fight but eventually, Roy managed to bang her head against the sink and she went limp. He stepped out and noticed that the fog had risen up to his throat and before he could prevent it, he inhaled. The realization came a second too late and he held his breath, knowing that the air in his lungs was already doused with the toxin and would hence just be further absorbed, but he didn't know what was worse at this point. 

"Arsenal!" Roy snapped out of his shock. Shadows started to dance in the corners of his vision as he tried to focus on Red Hood. Red Hood who stood next to the now open window, holding his daughter in his arms. "I cannot find the cartouche, I've alarmed the medics. Dispose of the helmet ASAP, it'll self-destruct in thirty minutes sharp." Before Roy could ask what he possibly meant by that, he was blinded once again by one of the grenades he seemed to be so fond of. He heard noises he could neither pinpoint nor interpret - except for the sound of a grappling hook being fired. Roy blinked rapidly, trying to regain his vision. Where was his daughter? Had he taken her? Was she dead already? His lungs started to burn and he tried to move in the vague direction of the window. His vision returned and he could see shapes and outlines and he carefully went for the bright spot, leaned out carefully before taking a slow, deep breath. He turned around and saw Lian lying on the bed. He rushed forward embracing her - something felt off. Her head was too heavy, simply slumped from side to side. He pressed his ear to her chest. There was nothing, no gentle rise of her chest. It couldn't be. She couldn't be dead.

"Lian, please, Lian, please wake up. Please, pumpkin. Please." But there was nothing. Tears ran down his face and he clutched her tighter to his chest, not caring about the unconscious assassins or anything else. His daughter was dead. His little pumpkin was that.

Roy sat on the floor and wept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm... I'm... I'm sorry?


	4. A New Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy needs to get out of the room, out of the nightmare, out of a world where his daughter is dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was sooo tempted to name this one 'A New Chapter' because I couldn't come up with a title... But here we go.
> 
> And boy, do we go heavy. Content warning for all the angst. There will be detailed descriptions of addiction, drug use, hallucinations of all sorts, digging in deep into abandonment issues and grieving over a lost child. Also, we're getting back to Dick and his past with Mirage and for those who don't know what that implies: non-detailed, non-graphic discussion of rape.
> 
> So, not a happy chapter. But somehow it is.   
> Also, the Batfam being the best family one could wish for, except for Bruce who somehow has a stick up his ass again. I didn't want to abuse that trope but sometimes it comes so naturally...

"Arsenal? Arsenal! Aw, fuck!" The voice only barely made it through the sorrow that was clouding his mind. Someone touched his shoulder.

"Arsenal, you need to get out of here. I can carry Lian if you-"

"Don't take her from me!"

"All right. It's okay, I'm not going to take her. Be careful with her head." Roy looked at the vague outline of Red Robin he could see through his tears.

"Don't you see that she's dead?!", he asked incredulously, tears welling up again. How could he be so cruel?

"She... Roy, you have been doused with fear gas. Lian is fine, no matter what you're seeing. She's wearing Red Hood's helmet if I'm not mistaken. But we need to get the both of you out of here. Can you do that? My bike is waiting downstairs. May I carry Lian?" Roy nodded slowly, sluggishly. Still, shadows were dancing at the corners of his vision, and why was there so much blood on the floor? He was tired. What had the Red Hood said about the helmet?

"Red? Helmet will explode."

"When?", was the panicked answer.

"Said thirty minutes. Don't know when." Tim took a breath.

"Okay, I received your call fifteen minutes ago, we still have time. I'll take the stairs with you. Think you can get up?" His limbs were unbearably heavy, but he made it all the way out of the apartment. His eyes were burning and Roy couldn't say why anymore, not that it mattered much. "Keep a hand on my shoulder, I'll guide you." Roy nodded and started the descent. He had the feeling they were walking forever. He saw Lian's limp body gently bouncing over Tim's shoulder, a brutal wound in her head, painting everything red with blood, her hair, Robin's costume and every single one of his steps. He shook his head. It wasn't real. It was the fear gas. 

On the next floor, a man was sitting on the floor, eyes staring into nothing. When Roy reached the end of the stairs, his head snapped around and he looked up at him, a grin on his face. He reminded Roy an awful lot of someone, he just couldn't say anymore who it was.

"Didn't think I'd ever see you again, Roy." The voice sent shivers down his spine and he had to stop. "Did you miss me? I'd hoped you'd join me again. You know, one last time. We were good, man." It was only then that Roy realized what the man was doing. He raised the needle and punched it into his arm, sighing blissfully as the drug began to shoot through his veins. 

"Join me? I know you've been itching for it for weeks. Ever since that little angel of yours has left you for her mother. And let's be honest, it's better that way. Who'd want an addict for a father? She was gone for a week and you proved again that you couldn't take care of yourself."

"Shut up, Corey." The man laughed.

"You do remember me. I was having doubts there for a second, not going to lie. Come on, boy, have a seat. What's stopping you? You killed your little girl and left her mother to die as well, there really isn't a better pastime. Not as if you haven't let yourself go. What's one more time? Your friends are disappointed no matter which way and your family is dead."

"No. I haven't used."

"Are we really arguing about semantics now, Roy?"

"I haven't."

"And what makes the alcohol better than the heroin, boy? Pretentious little shit. You've failed your daughter, Roy, face it. Your daughter and your friends. Because if you sat with me, nobody would be surprised."

"I haven't used, and I... I..." Roy choked on the tears that were running down his face again. He knew he'd failed them, failed them all. Most of all Lian and, Corey was right, who wanted an addict, a failure for a father anyway? He remembered his therapist's words from rehab: "You will never not be an addict anymore. You'll at most be an addict who's not using. But you'll always be an addict." The words bounced around his head and he felt sick with them.

He noticed that he was shaking - no, being shaken. He turned and saw Tim, who looked concerned.

"We need to go." Roy trusted him, somehow. He followed him. "Arsenal, I'm only with my bike, so I need you to hold on to me very tightly and make sure that Lian sits tight, okay? I'll get you to Oracle and you'll be safe." 

The drive to the clocktower was a daze. He had the feeling he was slipping from the seat on more than one occasion. He heard voices and noises and his head was so crowded that he swore it was going to explode.

"What's happened?" He knew that voice, and it seemed real enough, too. The face of a red-haired woman came to mind.

"I'm not entirely sure, to be honest, but Roy is heavily doused with fear gas."

"You haven't given him the antidote?"

"Excuse my caution, but I didn't think that punching a needle in his arm while he was assuring me he hadn't used was an especially good idea." His head was still too loud. 

"Point. What about Lian?"

"We have to check her blood, but I think she's just passed out, as bad as it sounds." Someone gently touched his shoulder. Roy was startled nonetheless.

"Hey, it's just little old me. Let's get you to bed and sleep this off, yeah? I'm sure you'll be better after a little sleep."

"Lian-"

"Lian will be right next to you the entire time. It's all right. Want to hold onto my handles?" Roy nodded but noticed that he couldn't get up with Lian still firmly nestled under his chin. Her hair was tickling at his throat and he wondered whether he'd been able to feel her curls the entire time. "Is it okay if Tim carries her to bed, Roy?", Barbara asked and Roy nodded reluctantly. She was picked up and he felt a lot colder. He started to shiver. "C'mon, Roy, up to bed." He held onto the handles of Barbara's wheelchair and she guided him slowly to a bed that was in all likelihood meant for whoever decided to crash at her place. The shaking didn't stop and Roy was suddenly violently sick.

"Gotta puke," was all he managed to get out before the strength in his knees left him again and he sagged to the floor. A wastebasket was placed in front of him not a second too early before he threw up. He felt horrible. A hand stroked over his back, pushed the hair out of his face.

"It's all right. Don't worry about it. Tim's getting you a glass of water. Would you let me inject you with something if I promised that it would help against this?" Roy shook his head weakly.

"No. No needles. Please, no needles." He started crying again.

"Hush, it's all right, I won't do anything without your consent, yeah? It's all right, Roy, we got you. We'll keep you safe until tomorrow. You're safe here. If you let go of the basket, here's a glass of water so you can rinse your mouth and drink a bit." He was trembling even worse now and knocked the glass against his teeth as he tried to take a sip. The first sip he really used to rinse his mouth and spit it right out, then he slowly drank the rest of the glass. He had broken out into a cold sweat. It felt awful and familiar. Strong hands helped him up and guided him to the bed that really had been only two steps away. Roy sat down and slowly let himself be guided on his back. Tim gently brushed some stray strands out of his face before he left his line of sight. Barbara returned to him.

"You can sleep. I'll keep an eye on both of you."

"Lian?" She smiled.

"Right next to you." Roy carefully turned onto his side and there she was. His little pumpkin was peacefully sleeping next to him and Roy almost sobbed with relief. He put his arm around her, pulled her closer to his chest, and closed his eyes.

When he came to, he was in an unfamiliar bed. It looked like the hospital variety, although his surroundings suggested that this wasn't actually a hospital. There was no conversation around him but as he looked up, a bunch of people were simply staring at him. He felt horribly exposed. There was little pity, little concern in their eyes, and maybe it wasn't all that bad, then. And yet he felt like hell had just spit him out.

Slowly he began to recognize the figures. It were still Red Robin and Barbara, but Nightwing was there, too, same as Ollie and Dinah. He was confused. If his makeshift parents were there, maybe it was bad, after all.

"How could you do this to us, Roy? After everything. I thought I had you back, I thought you were trying to make this work, but apparently, family really does mean that little to you." Roy looked at Ollie, confused. Sure, he hadn't been a great son, though in his defence, Ollie hadn't exactly won any Dad of the year awards either. But they were civil with each other and... What had he done to sabotage that?

"I knew you weren't doing great, man, but you'd promised me not to use again," Nightwing said, and Roy shook his head. "Have you lied to me since the beginning?"

"No!"

"Since when, Roy? When did you use again?"

"I haven't! I swear, I haven't!"

"I knew you were a disappointment the first time I caught you with a needle. How could I think that you were capable of turning your back on this?" Ollie turned around, leaving him. Again.

"Ollie, please, I didn't! Dinah?" But Dinah slowly and sadly shook her head, took Ollie's hand and left with him.

"What were you thinking, Roy?", Tim now asked him. "That we wouldn't find out? Fat chance there."

"Lian," he suddenly said, not knowing how his daughter had managed to make it to the front of his mind. Tim looked at him incredulously.

"We couldn't save her anymore. You spent too long in that room. She's inhaled too much of the gas for her small body and then you had your break down on the way out and... You know, had you pulled yourself together for one more minute, she might have made it. But like this? Like this, you're simply the reason she died." Tim's face spoke utter disgust and he turned away from him, as well. Roy didn't even care at that moment. His daughter was dead, and he was alone again. Dick looked at him with a mix of disappointment and deep sadness.

"You know, I've tried with you. I tried so hard. But I cannot do this anymore. Goodbye, Roy." Roy sobbed as Nightwing left his bedside as well, cried his name. It was only him and Barbara now, and Roy didn't even know why she was still there. Maybe she didn't either.

"I hope you know it's not their fault for turning away. I mean, they tried for you. They went through rehab with you, they prevented you from relapsing, and yet you went behind their backs and used again. They tried to see past your mistakes, past your numerous mistakes. You've got no one but yourself to blame. After all, you're the one who's disappointed them, over and over and over. I hope you can live with that, Roy. And if not..." She shrugged and pointed to his bedside table. On a medical tray sat unmistakably everything he'd need to give in to that crawling sensation that hadn't left him since Corey had offered.

"No," he mumbled as his hand was already reaching for it. "No!" Again, with more determination, and now he looked back to the foot of his bed - and Barbara was gone. Roy's stomach sunk. He was alone. Left by everybody and he deserved it.

"Come on now, Roy," a voice said next to him and he whipped his head around. Corey stood there, tapping against a fresh syringe. "At this point, it really doesn't matter anymore. What are you afraid of? Disappointing someone? Who? They all left. Nobody gives a damn anymore. What keeps you from it?" He wrapped a cloth around Roy's arm and pulled it tight and only now did it dawn on him what Corey was attempting to do. He tried to pull his arm away, but Corey was surprisingly strong. He tried to thrash and shout, but his body was still weak and his voice still caught with tears. 

"No. Please don't. I haven't... I don't want to... Don't do this to me again," he whimpered. His vision blurred with tears. When he felt a needle break his skin he screamed, screamed until his breath ran out, screamed, until the world around him faded back to black.

The world only came slowly to him. He felt horrible, like he didn't even catch any sleep at all, and his throat hurt in three different ways he could distinguish right now. He could hear soft voices. It sounded calm, peaceful, and luckily not threatening at all. Slowly, he blinked his eyes open. He didn't know where he was but that didn't come as much of a surprise to him. There was sunlight in the room, and that was about all he could make out for a minute or two. He tried to sit up and found that his whole body ached.

"Roy?" He blinked in the general direction of the voice and saw a woman who had the same hairstyle as him. He knew her.

"Barbara?" She smiled.

"In the flesh. How are you feeling, hot stuff?" He tried to smile back at her.

"Like I was hit by a car." Memories slowly filtered back to him and he sat up abruptly, inspecting his arms. There was a small puncture mark in his right elbow bend. He paled.

"Roy, look at me!", Barbara suddenly demanded sternly, and he got the impression that it wasn't the first time she was asking for his attention. He managed to tear his eyes from the offending dot on his skin. "Roy, we needed to take a blood sample from you and that's all that is. I can show you the sample, I can show you the analysis of it if that gives you any peace of mind."

"Why did you...?" His mind was sluggish.

"You were heavily dosed with fear gas. Tim thought it to be... unwise to inject anything into your arm considering your hallucinations. So we didn't, but when you got rapidly worse I needed to take a sample to see whether your body had a fighting chance or not. It did, so we didn't do anything and let you sleep it off. What do you remember?" He had worked up a headache and had hoped he'd avoid the inconvenience of thinking for a bit longer. He sank back into his pillows and closed his eyes, hoped that a random memory would hit him. As it did, he shot up in his bed.

"Where is Lian, is she okay? Fuck, Barbara, where is-" She raised her hands to interrupt him.

"It's all right, Roy. Look behind me. Everything is fine." Roy looked past her, and there was Dick, sitting on Barbara's fluffy carpet, and in his lap, single-mindedly focused on a picture book was his daughter.

"Lian!" Tears of relief shot in his eyes and he didn't even bother to hide them. Dick, who had probably had one ear on their conversation, got up and carried her over to his bed.

"Look, princess, your Daddy's awake."

"Dada!" She beamed and reached her arms for him and Roy took her from Dick and clutched her tightly to her chest.

"Hey pumpkin," he whispered. "You're all right, yes? This is not just another dream? You're really here. God, I was so scared. I thought you were dead, Lian. Don't do this to me again, yeah? Can you do that for your dad?" He looked her in the eyes. She smiled, reached for one of his curls to tug at it.

"Dada!"

"Ow, Lian, no, we don't pull other people's hair. No!" Reluctantly, she let go of her grip. In the next second, he hugged her again, kept her as close as possible until she started to squirm.

"Dickie! Help!", she demanded and Roy laughed, let go of her.

"I'll take care of her until you're up, okay? Take a shower, have breakfast with Barb, take care of yourself, and then we can talk, yeah?" Roy nodded and let Dick pick her back up. He wiped the tears from his face.

"She's grown," he said as if that was what had caused his tears. "Fuck, I'm just so glad she's alive and well. I was so scared for her." Barbara smiled sympathetically and squeezed his hand.

"Want to take a shower?" Roy nodded and looked down at himself. "Dick has helped you out of your costume. The Bats keep some stuff here, I think you might fit into Dick's stuff at least moderately." Roy chuckled.

"Yeah, we've tried that a couple of nights ago. I mean, you know how he usually wears the tight stuff? I think I got him beaten there now." Barbara giggled and led him to her bathroom.

After a shower and a breakfast that Roy found out was technically an early dinner, they sat together on the floor, Roy absentmindedly playing with Lian and a set of toy blocks Roy had no idea where they had come from while they were slowly trying to make sense of the previous evening.

The first thing Roy realised was that there was no point in hiding the Red Hood from Dick anymore. After the last night, there was no way to make that happen.

"So do I get that right, Red Hood met with you, then Cheshire showed up to tell you Lian wasn't safe, you were attacked by actual League of Shadows assassins that Red Hood managed to sweet talk, and oh, he also found out that they knew where Lian was so he offered you a damn ride to get you and your daughter safe and not only that but he gave his helmet to her to protect her from the fear gas? And then he left you two?" Roy nodded. He knew it didn't make any fucking sense. "Okay, two things to bring a bit of light in the dark: If he was so adamant about rescuing her, why did he leave you two there and rig his helmet?"

"The second one I can answer: He has Bat grade equipment. You wouldn't want anyone to have access to the feeds in your mask either, right? His helmet can do that and who knows what more," Barbara chimed in. She sounded upset about it and Roy could bet she'd wanted to get her fingers on it.

"Apparently explode, which, all things considered, is dangerous and stupid. And what about leaving you?"

"He knew Red was coming. I called him in for backup and I can imagine he isn't keen on meeting a Bat. And I don't think he knew who she was. Neither Jade nor I mentioned that she was our daughter."

"Maybe he did add two and two and came up with four, though." Roy nodded. Maybe Dick was right. Maybe it was something else. Maybe he wanted to win Roy's trust. It all was too convenient. How come the assassins had only attacked after Jade had found him? How come he had been able to stop them? How come there had been no harm done to his daughter although they'd had plenty of opportunities? 

"Did someone return to check the apartment?", Roy asked.

"Of sorts. Tim returned after we were sure you were safe here and Lian was fine, but by then the building was being evacuated so he had to be very careful. Funnily enough, there was only one body in the apartment. From what Tim told me, there were five or six assassins in the room and most of them had been shot." Shot but alive and well enough to escape. Roy couldn't recall how many of them there were, though. 

"What time is it?"

"Ten after six. Why?" He sighed.

"I know you'll try to keep me from doing this, but I need to head out today." Barbara stared at him as if he'd lost his marbles. All things considered, maybe he had.

"I won't even tell you that that's stupid, so you better tell me why before I bench you."

"Barbara, I know you worry, but-"

"Don't you dare imply that I couldn't bench you because I can and I will. So you'd better come up with a good reason." Another heavy sigh. Dick was quiet.

"The way this starts will make this sound even worse, but... Before Cheshire interrupted yesterday he said he expected another shipment tonight. He wanted me to investigate the scene with him. The shipment will arrive today no matter how shitty I feel and I don't know when we'll get another chance if that really is a lead we should follow. Maybe he'll even explain how he knew about the League because I know nobody who has contacts there who respect them."

"Except for Damian," Dick threw in and Roy had to concede his point.

"Yeah, but unless Talia has literally cloned Bruce there's no chance he has an older brother with Bruce's built, right?" Dick snorted.

"I wouldn't put it past her, but extremely unlikely, yeah." Roy turned his attention back to Barbara.

"I know it's not especially smart but... That's all I've got right now. I'd send Ravager if I hadn't suggested her joining us yesterday already and he wasn't really fond of the idea. I don't want to cross him like this." Barbara studied him for a few achingly long seconds.

"All right. But I get to check you over before that." Roy released a breath he hadn't been aware he'd held. "He seems to like you, and I don't know what to do with that. I'll try to filter through Bruce's reports involving him but if there really was an incident, he'll have hidden it so well it's going to take me a while to decipher it. Hey, Lian, wanna ride with me while we get your Daddy checked?" Lian looked up to Barbara as she heard her name and when Barbara patted her lap, she reached her hands for her. "Come on, hot stuff, your daughter is on board to get you checked. Let's flip to the cave." Roy wasn't exactly keen on any kind of medical procedure but he knew that there was no way around that. 

Barbara picked Lian up and placed her on her lap while Dick already went for the bust where the entrance to Barbara's cave was hidden. Roy got up unsteadily.

"Barbara, can you help me one more time?", he asked, and she nodded. He grabbed her handles and held onto her as she wheeled herself over to the tiny med bay.

"Have a seat." Roy sat down uncomfortably and in the next second, he had a lap full of toddler. "Here, keep her entertained." He was handed another picture book and after a moment of stunned silence, he got settled with his pumpkin on his lap and started reading to her. Roy only absent-mindedly followed Barbara's commands, not wanting to disrupt Lian's trance-like fascination with the book. The only thing that ripped him out of his flow was another needle poking through his skin. He watched as the blood drained from his arm, everything out, nothing entering his system, nothing at all. He still felt uncomfortable, to say the least, and both Barbara and Lian tried their best to distract him from the mere presence of needles. To his relief, the results claimed him to be absolutely clean - not only of heroin but also of fear gas and similar components.

"Looks like your liver and your kidneys did a kickass job there," she said, sounding satisfied, and Roy snorted.

"Considering everything it's a surprise they haven't simply quit, huh?", he said and bit his tongue. He shouldn't make those jokes around his friends, shouldn't remind them that his body had been fighting against poison for most his life, had been subjected to most of the ordeal by himself. But Barbara only shook her head, an incredulous smile on her face.

"Your words, not mine. But all right, you're free to go, though I reserve the right to say I told you so." Roy smiled sadly and nodded. He wasn't entirely convinced of his own plan, either.

"Fair enough." He looked at Lian in his arms. "Listen, I know I'm in no position to ask anything of you, but short of walking up to the manor and asking Alfred whether he could help me out there is not a single safe place I can think of in this city other than your clocktower, so... could you have an eye on Lian tonight? If things haven't changed, it should be easy, I'll put her to bed and everything, she's a good sleeper..." He interrupted himself as he saw the amused smile on Barbara's face.

"Sure. And don't make a fuss about it, okay? We're here for you, same as you'd be for us." Roy nodded, bit his lip. He'd always had the feeling that he demanded more of his friends than he could give, not because he wanted to be that way but because he couldn't help his sometimes fragile state. He hated it. 

"Speaking of it," Dick chimed in, looking uncannily uncomfortable. "I... I know those last two days have taken a lot out of you but... Can you... Oh God, Barbara doesn't know anything about that entire mess with Mirage and it's been bugging me and I need some help there," he said in one rush. Roy was surprised. He hadn't expected for it to be fine after Dick's first reaction but somehow he had assumed that Dick wasn't one to have trouble talking about things. He never seemed to have with him. Maybe it was because they had never been together. 

"Sure. Now?" Dick nodded, looking at him and pointedly avoiding to look at Barbara. This was going to be fun. "Lian, darling, you want to watch a movie on Barbie's telly?" The little girl on his lap nodded enthusiastically and he let her up from his lap. Barbara transformed her cave back to an apartment and Roy got Lian settled on the sofa, switched the TV on and took his time switching through the movies, letting Lian decide which one. Barbara and Dick silently talked at the other side of the room, Dick slumped down on a chair, already looking defeated. Barbara came closer and kissed him. Roy hid a smile in Lian's curls. They were good together. He was happy for them.

"Sit tight, pumpkin, I'll be back in a bit." He gave her another kiss and returned to the large table. "Are you comfy like this, Boy Wonder?", he asked. He knew that getting comfy for difficult conversations was oddly important.

"Yeah, I'm good. Though..."

"Yeah?" He nervously glanced back and forth between Barbara and Roy.

"Goldie, it's all right, really. I know you love me, I know you love Roy, I know this is difficult. It's all right, babe." That seemed to do the trick and Dick turned to Roy.

"Can we get comfy on the bed? Only the sofa's occupied and I... Can you be close?" Roy smiled softly.

"Of course, Boy Wonder." He walked up to Dick, gave him a kiss to his forehead, took his hand and led him to the bed he'd spent the night in. He got comfy against the headrest and invited Dick to settle in on his side. It took him a bit until he was fully comfortable, but Roy figured that this was mostly due to nerves. "You all right there? Anything I can do?" Dick nodded.

"Can you tell Babs what happened? How they died?" Roy quickly and accurately described what had happened and what they knew and suspected about the perpetrator. Barbara took it in very calmly. When he had ended, Dick seamlessly took over.

"Roy visited me two days ago to tell me that because he knew I had... an incident with her years ago. Back then I was still with Kory. Things hadn't been going too smoothly already, I think we weren't good at communicating. Maybe Roy has more insight on that as an outsider. But I loved her. Mirage and Redwing and some other people were trying to go against us, they were acting in the name of some chaotic deity if I'm not mistaken. I don't recall much of that anymore, to be honest. Mirage was an illusionist, as you might know, and before we teamed up to go against the chaos... It had been a night like any other, Kory had joined me in bed, it was... Jesus, it was sex with the woman I'd been in a relationship with for a long time, it was nice but nothing I'd thought over for too long. And the next day I found out it hadn't been Kory I'd been sleeping with but Mirage. The others who'd been around hadn't exactly acted kindly. I'd been shamed and complimented and Kory distanced herself even further and I felt horrible. I'd been called a slut, was asked who was better in bed, complimented that I got the chance to have a go with Mirage as well as Kory, and I was simply disgusted with it all. I felt horrible for betraying Kory like that, though I knew on a rational level that I'd had no way of knowing. I felt... I felt violated." The word only barely made it past his lips and tears were now running down his cheeks. Roy pulled him tightly against him, pressed another kiss to his hair.

"It's okay, sweet cheeks. It's all right."

"And things with Kory didn't work out, eventually, and I buried it all and Mirage left and it never came up and then Roy showed up and simply told me she was dead and I was so relieved that moment that this woman could never cross me again, could never make me feel that bad about myself and my body again. And then I felt horrible for being relieved about the death of a former teammate. And since... That feeling of disgust is there again. I can't stand myself sometimes. And I'm sorry that this sometimes overwhelms me right now." Roy wanted to hug Dick even closer and protect him from the world and himself. Dick had confided in him when he was mourning their break up when he'd been heartbroken and needed someone to talk to. It had all bubbled up then, and Roy had dared to call it what it had been. Rape. Dick had recoiled from the word, not because he denied it but because it had triggered him in some way or another and ever since he avoided it. 

"May I come closer, babe?" Dick nodded, looking incredibly small at Roy's side. Barbara scooted closer and took Dick's hand. "It's okay, you hear me? It's okay to feel that way. You don't have to apologize for being down. I'm sorry that this happened to you. I'm glad and grateful you told me. And I know this is not where the conversation ends, but maybe for today it's enough, huh?" Dick nodded. "Wanna come here, Boy Wonder?" Dick sat up slowly and Barbara pushed herself out of the wheelchair and into Dick's lap. She hugged him tightly and Roy saw his shoulders shake with the tremors of his crying. He carefully got up and gave Barbara a sign that he'd be with his daughter, giving them some privacy. She smiled at him and he could read a silent 'thanks' from her lips.

Roy cuddled up with Lian on the couch and comfortably drifted off to sleep. 

A small, moist hand on his cheek woke him up again. "Dada! Good night, Dada." Roy blinked his eyes open and found himself eye in eye with Lian. She looked at him inquisitively. "Bed, Dada," she said again and Roy smiled at her. 

"Who's gotten you PJs pumpkin, huh?" She turned around and said "Timmy," rather enthusiastically. And really, there was Tim sitting at Barbara's table, nursing what probably was a cup of coffee, next to Rose and Dick.

"Morning, sleeping beauty," Barbara grinned and Roy rubbed his eyes. 

"I was out good, huh?" It wasn't all that usual for him to not notice that Lian had slipped away - or people entered the room. Barbara chuckled.

"You could say so. Are you sure you want to go out tonight?" Roy nodded.

"Yeah. I'll have a cup of coffee and then I'm good to go." Barbara sighed but said nothing. "Are you already ready for bed, Lian?", he asked her and she nodded. Roy was surprised that she wasn't rioting at the prospect of going to bed but who knew what she'd been bribed with. "Have you already said good night to the others?" She marched off towards the table and Roy took that as a no. Lian started by hugging Rose's legs and surprised just about everybody.

"Good night." Then she continued with Tim, hugging his legs as well, only that he patted her head. Dick simply picked her up and gave her a smooch on the cheek that made her shriek with delight.

"Don't rile her up again," Roy admonished him gently and he rolled his eyes and set her back down. Lastly, she went to Barbara and reached her hands up to her. "Barbie, bed." She smiled gently and picked her up. 

"She likes me for my chair, I think." After a short moment of contemplation, she shrugged. "At least she likes me, I guess." Lian obviously enjoyed being brought to bed by her new best friend and Roy slowly trailed after them. He hoped she'd be able to sleep even though there was still a little bit of light and chatter at the other end of the room. Barbara tucked her in and gave her a kiss.

"Good night, munchkin." She smiled.

"Good night." She looked expectantly at Roy. "Story, Dada." Roy chuckled. Sure. How could he forget? After a brief discussion about which book it should be - where had the books come from? - Roy read a story about a green, misunderstood dragon. By the end of it, her eyelids were already heavy and Roy couldn't help his smile. He closed the book, gave her a kiss - and steadied himself to be Arsenal again.

"Asleep?", Dick asked as he rejoined them.

"Almost."

"I don't remember her being so chatty," Tim said absentmindedly and Roy gave him a pained smile. 

"I try not to think about the fact that I missed her first proper words," he said and Tim looked about ready to knock his head against the table. "I'll work something out concerning her stay. Tomorrow, I mean. I know this is not a permanent solution."

"I think your suggestion to drop her off at the manor is hilarious."

"Oh, don't, Bruce might think she's an orphan and he has a track record," Tim deadpanned and they all burst out laughing. 

"Maybe I'll ask her almost Granny. As long as she doesn't get involved in this mess, that is. Dinah hasn't been with you, has she?" Barbara shook her head.

"No, I had a weird group this time but Dinah was not in it."

"Speaking of the Birds: Did you go against Cheshire? And I don't mean this in any judgemental way because if I knew I was stronger, I'd do it too." Roy suddenly remembered the risk Jade had taken by showing up in Gotham at all.

"That was before she had Lian. And there, Dinah had been involved. Some business with her, Dinah, and Shiva, and it all came down to her crossing Shiva and since I'm not that close with her, that's their business now. Dinah is fine. Why?"

"Apparently, she thought you still might have unfinished business with her."

"And yet she came to Gotham?", Tim asked, as surprised as Roy had been the previous day.

"She was afraid for Lian and hoped that keeping close to me would protect her." He grinned at Barbara. "As if you wouldn't whoop my ass if I did something stupid."

"And don't you dare forget it, Harper." Her smile was close to threatening and Roy shook his head with a smile.

"Anyway, where are we?"

"You doing a marvellous job of being a team leader by getting knocked out in the first night on the job," Rose grinned and Roy put on a faux-innocent expression.

"What? I thought this was key to being a team leader. Isn't that what they usually do?" Dick threw a crumpled paper at him and Roy giggled. "What did I miss?"

"Blüdhaven is quiet currently, not more business than usual, so I took the liberty and check the hospitals for people being sent in for drug abuse, in case that new stuff has already reached us. It has because of course it has. I've added the medical reports to our files, I haven't had the chance to sweep a blood sample for analysis from the hospital, though."

"With a little bit of both good and bad luck, I can get a sample fresh from the manufacturer tonight. That might save you the hassle." Dick nodded.

"Rose?"

"I was the mission control nobody went to in favour of Oracle, so what do you expect?" Roy closed his eyes. Right.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to undermine you, but no offence, I needed Oracle more for the safe space she could offer than as a mission control."

"Jeez, Roy, no hard feelings. It's fine. But I didn't do much more than sifting through reports and looking through the things that Damian sent over."

"Anything interesting?"

"I already told Tim that I need a Bat to look at this shit. Y'all are in on the way of reports and case descriptions and whatnot, to me they make little sense."

"I might have time to look into it tonight if you don't need me too much," Barbara offered.

"Are you done with your mission?", Tim asked.

"Mostly. They're all on their way back, at least."

"That means we're two women stronger again. Sweet." That was right. Roy had to admit that up until Tim mentioned it, he didn't have Cass on his radar.

"Tim, what was Bruce willing to tell you?" Tim sighed,

"Not to sound wrong here, but I'm glad you called for help when you did because I've about had enough of it then. At least I was right, I got an earful of 'Why haven't you told me before?' and 'People died' and 'You're not worthy of leading a team', though that was mostly subtext. Dick, what did you tell the demon that made him back off my case?" Dick smirked, letting Tim's jab slide.

"Told him a few of the shenanigans Jason and I pulled back in the day. Whenever Bruce had that stick of his shoved too far up again, I'd gang up with him. One time it led to the Batmobile sporting Robin's colours. Bruce was seething, but there wasn't much he could do that he hadn't already done. Sometimes we even got help from Alfred. So I told him that there was one thing that Batman never stood a chance against, and that was more than one Robin." Tim actually smiled.

"Thanks for that, actually. I hope it lasts a bit, but he didn't dig in any deeper, at least. I even told him that Cassie's in charge and not me and that made him rant about giving up my position to a meta and that man is going to eat his words one day." Barbara huffed.

"Please, that man probably's had the hots for at least one meta. I'm just still not sure whether it was Clark or Diana." Roy almost choked on his coffee. "What? Might be true. How would I know? Did he actually have a contribution to your case?"

"The only thing he could contribute immediately was that Scarecrow is out on the loose and has been suspiciously quiet ever since." Roy laughed openly. "Yeah, I see how that turned out. Then again, what does the League have to do with Scarecrow?" 

"I already asked Dami whether he could ask his mum about it. Maybe she's in the sharing is caring mood," Dick supplied and they all scoffed. Rose grinned.

"That's like saying my Dad is hospitable. It has happened, but that doesn't make it a trait. So, what's the plan for tonight?" 

"I have a suggestion, but feel free to argue. I have my business. Ravager, you hang in close. This might be another boring night, but I'd rather know you're not more than five minutes from me in case shit hits the fan. So patrol the area, have a sandwich, I don't care, but I need you to be mostly invisible backup. Nightwing is back in Blüdhaven, Robin is patrolling with Batman. Red, are you up for some old-fashioned detective work and go through the files with Oracle, maybe investigate a scene or two? If the Red Hood is in the sharing and caring mood, as Dick so aptly put it, I might have some more intel. I mean I hope for an explanation about the League and maybe... Oh, Lord, let's hope he's not that stupid."

"What?"

"He said yesterday that, after his meeting with Luthor was so uneventful he might have a chat with Black Mask, ask him how his business is doing. Was the Penguin into the trade? I should suggest that to him. One more way to get himself killed."

"I see the two of you get along splendidly. Anyway, I like the plan. It might actually work. Roy, darling, please be careful. You're not yet one hundred per cent back on your game and I'd hate to have Tim or Rose pick you up. And if that's not enough, I'm not playing medical for another night, so I'll send you to Batman for stitches." Roy glared at Barbara. Now, that was playing dirty. 

"I'll be heading back to the safe house, I need to gear up a bit. Are you staying here?" They nodded. "Dick, might I snitch your bike? I'm not keen on taking public transport. I'll bring it back before you leave, promise." Dick smiled.

"Luckily for you, I fully plan on leaving as Nightwing since that bike is here as well. And since you lack a vehicle, you can have my bike tonight. I'd appreciate if I got it back without you having to repair it but since I've seen your repair jobs, I'm not even worried. So have at it."

"You're a lifesaver, Boy Wonder. Well then, see you on the rooftops." 

The first thing he did back in the apartment was to take the liquor bottle from his duffle bag and empty it onto the sink. He had his daughter to take care of. And this time, he'd stay sober, whatever might happen. And however miserable the next few days might be. Then again, with the fear toxin having run through his system, maybe his body had indeed performed an instant detox. 

He took his sweet time gearing up and only when it was half-past ten was he on his way to Northpoint.

On his way to meet the Red Hood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, it was angsty, but I made up for that eventually, right?  
> I mean, last week was... worse.   
> I remember when I was writing that chapter I was all "Here we go, finally some action, Red Hood and Arsenal investigating together" and then the entire Dick-opening-up scene happened and... yeah... next chapter...  
> Also, I realized today that I need to pick up writing properly again... I have prepared nine chapters and this was already the fourth and chapter ten is still slow coming...  
> But I'll be back next week!


	5. A New Face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roy gets on a ship to steal some drugs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After last week's emotional and dialogue-heavy chapter, we're getting down to business now. (not to defeat the Huns. just... business.)  
> Content warnings for some fighting, canon-typical violence, and Roy's horrible flirting. Consider yourself warned.

"I wasn't sure you'd come," the mechanical voice greeted him. Roy smirked.

"And miss a chance to see you? No way." Red Hood tilted his head in the other direction and Roy was sad he couldn't see his face. They were on the top floor of a deserted building, formerly probably an office building judging by the large windows that filled out a whole wall. Only that the windows were broken now and left a huge hole in the building. Roy had read up a little on the area and apparently, there had been a time when this part of town had flourished, had been for the rich people. Back then, Northpoint harbour had been called Rodger's Yacht Basin. He had wondered why the Bowery might need a yacht basin. After all, the small harbour was surrounded by Crime Alley, the Bowery and the Amusement Mile. As long as Roy had been around, neither of those names had anything sophisticated about them. Then again, there had been a time when the Amusement Mile had been an actual attraction instead of the absolute horror it represented nowadays.

He looked around and saw that there was a solitary table in the room and a battery-powered desk lamp standing on it. Red Hood was inspecting whatever kind of documents he had spread out there, barely reacting to his arrival.

"You got out all right, I take it?" Roy shrugged.

"A little worse for wear but alive and kicking. Though I wouldn't recommend it. That reminds me... Thanks. For helping the girl. She probably wouldn't have made it without you." Red Hood straightened his posture and crossed his arms, eyeing him. At least that was what Roy assumed he did behind the mask.

"Who is she?" He'd expected the question.

"I'll trade you. How are you tied to the League of Shadows?" There was a moment of silence.

"Okay. Fair. I've trained with them. Someone in the League had faith in me, trusted me when I was down, and they remember me. I asked them to do me a favour and stand tight until they've heard back from their commander with whom I've talked. Unfortunately, someone has been very tight-lipped about it. It was only a paid mission, no questions asked, command was to take down Cheshire and whoever is with her. I asked who put in the contract and only got a 'I'll be in touch'. That's my story and even some intel you can forward to your precious Titans. And if you think I haven't noticed someone looming over our shoulders, you have another thing coming."

"It's Ravager. I asked her to stay within five minutes emergency range because after yesterday I prefer to be prepared instead of sorry. Especially with what happened... You're not stupid so I trust you've drawn your conclusions from what little you've heard from our conversation and only need it confirmed. That little girl you saved yesterday is our daughter. Things aren't exactly easy, custody wise, as you can imagine, but you know about as much about our current situation as I do. She's almost two years now and I don't know what I'd do without her. So really, thank you for saving her. I think I owe you one already. Did you get out all right?" Hood nodded.

"I spent the rest of the night tracking down Black Mask. As per goddamn usual, he wasn't especially helpful. But he gave me enough hints that I might get to the heart of it eventually."

"Anything that doesn't need to be taken care of by a drug lord? Because Red Robin is currently looking for the needle in a haystack of random info and I told him to be ready to run some errands." Hood tilted his head again, contemplating his offer. 

"I don't know how good his interrogation techniques are, but... there seems to be a contract, maybe it's bribery, I don't know. From what I've gathered, there's a temporary agreement to not go against each other in favour of something bigger. Something that isn't initiated by our typical locals, someone who can even hire Ra's al Ghul's crew. Black Mask is in on it, too, and I feel like the thirteenth fairy at sleeping beauty's baby shower." Roy laughed.

"Still too good to join the club of super villains, huh? So, you want someone to interrogate any stupid villain out there and hope they drop a name?"

"Kinda, yeah. I mean that was my plan, anyway. Look for someone who's stupid enough and can be tricked into babbling and fool them. I'm not sure but I hope and suspect the Riddler is in on this, he can be... persuaded to do about everything."

"You know what? I think I know just the guy. And from what I've heard, they need a bit of bonding anyway." He stepped away from the table. "Red, you there?"

"Already?"

"Can you invite Robin in?"

"Uhm, okay... Red to Robin, you're in here with Arsenal and me. What can we do for you, Arsenal?"

"I got a hint that there's a pact between a good part of the resident villains that is not initiated by any of them. Question is, who's behind that mess. The Riddler might be in on that, though, and I've heard he's rather easy to manipulate. Do you two think you might be able to... persuade him to talk?"

"-tt- Sure. I don't see why this should be a problem."

"Right. Have fun, Arsenal." The line cut and Roy sighed.

"I have half a mind to call Nightwing in for backup already because this cannot go well." Then again, Batman usually kept a close eye on Robin, so maybe that wouldn't be necessary.

"What? Why?"

"Robin and his predecessor aren't on the best of terms, to put it mildly. It's getting better but this might just as well backfire. But Nightwing working on socializing the demon spawn and he's doing that via the enemy of my enemy is my friend approach because apparently, beating the Bat at his own game is the best incentive there is. Told the demon the stories about how he teamed up with his Robin back then and pranked the Bat seven ways from Sunday if he is to be believed. I never thought I'd get that deep into the gossip of that family," he added, more as an afterthought, and got a mechanical laugh for that. "Okay, back to business, I take it. We're still doing this, right, because we need to know what they're giving the street addicts in Gotham, Metropolis, Blüdhaven on fuck knows where."

"Blüdhaven, too?" Roy nodded.

"Yeah, Nightwing checked some hospitals last night. I see you've got it all figured out?" He pointed at the map of Northpoint harbour on the table. Red Hood shrugged.

"I only know the layout of the harbour, the ship, I know where the interesting cargo is and I know it'll arrive in half an hour. I know where there are guards in the harbour but not on deck, and how the cargo is supposed to be transported off the deck. If the stuff has been swapped while they were on the water, which is not unlikely, it'll be an easy in and out thing because there isn't much to do other than getting a sample and a list of the people on deck. And interrogating each and every single one until we've got what we came for." His tone made clear that that wasn't at all what he was hoping to get out of this and, honestly, Roy would prefer to spend his week differently as well. Red Hood spend the next twenty minutes explaining the layout, blind spots, possible difficulties, security cameras and everything he deemed important to Roy. Just before Red Hood could wrap it up, Roy had a voice in his ear and held a finger up.

"Oracle to Arsenal, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear. What's up, BG?"

"Just wanted to tell you, I have an eye on you, and by you, I mean the security cams on the docks. I'll keep the line open for everything, don't you dare cut it. Also, your target is about to arrive."

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Oracle." He lowered his hand to signal that he was back with him. "Oracle is keeping an eye on us via security cams that I know we're trying to avoid, but in case someone messes around on the deck while we're below, she'll tell me. I'd offer you to join the line but-" A rough cackle that Roy figured had to be a snort by the situations he'd heard it interrupted him and he sighed. "Yeah, that. Don't tell me I haven't offered or stuff."

"I'll open a private line for us and tell Oracle she shouldn't spend her time hacking into it." Roy raised his eyebrows but did exactly that. Roy wasn't exactly sure how Red Hood managed to use the same frequency but encrypting his own signal in a way that Oracle couldn't listen in, but that obviously wasn't his business. 

"You got a grappling hook this time around?" Roy nodded. He'd borrowed one from Barbara's backups because, well, he hadn't been in the business for a year now and whenever he'd been out, there'd been a meta around to give him a ride, or a Bat who'd been better equipped and willing to help him along. "Then let's get this show on the road." Red Hood flicked a lighter and set the maps on the table on fire. That explained where the gasoline smell had come from earlier.

"Leaving no traces?"

"At least none that can be tied to us." And with that, he fired his grapple gun and was out the open window. Roy hurried to follow. They were only two blocks from the dock but Roy had seen him move. That was years of practice on the roofs. He had to keep up. Per mutual agreement, they thought it best to follow the harbour crew with a little delay below deck. The guards on the ship had been told to pay extra attention, as were those on the dock, which made everyone extra careful for people like Arsenal and Red Hood. 

From a high pile of containers, they grappled down onto the superstructure. There had been the thought of looking through the cabins above deck but they'd quickly agreed it'd take too long. Luckily it wasn't a large cargo ship and Roy wondered whether drugs generally were transported in smaller ships. It'd make sense, somehow. Then again, Gotham wasn't that big of a trading point and the bigger shipments arrived at Port Adams or the Sheal Docks because they were closer to the Wayne Tower and the corresponding manufacturing buildings of Wayne Enterprises, anyway. Silently and, to Roy's surprise, unseen, they made it down the superstructure and onto the deck, safely hidden between containers.

"This would be easier if we were out of costume and looked like guards, huh?", Roy mused and got another crackling snort for that. 

"Not substantially, to be honest. Why, Arsenal, afraid someone might spot that catchy red of yours?" He rolled his eyes. He'd never been one to work and hide in the shadows, unlike Gotham's usual vigilantes, but so far that also never had been an issue. "Let's go down there." 

Either Red Hood had access to the maps via his helmet, something that Roy thought to be very probable, or the guy had an insane memory, because he surely led them to the closest ventilation shaft, bend it open in a display of strength that Roy couldn't help but be impressed by, and down they went. 

After only a few steps, Red Hood turned around, pointed at Roy's feet and then pressed his finger to what would be his mouth if it wasn't for that mask in a shushing gesture. Roy nodded and tried to silence his steps. Who was that guy trained by to carry that much bulk and wear combat boots and still be silent as a cat? It was almost scary. He wasn't sure that the League could pull off that stunt, either. Roy had noticed yesterday that they had softer boots, a lot like those on Dick's costume: similar material to that of the rest of his suit, but reinforced. There was no denying that Red Hood wore nothing as silent and yet...

He was forced to a halt when Red Hood stopped before him. He motioned for him to stay put and Roy waited as Hood slowly climbed over another grate before quietly prying it open. After what Roy assumed to be a cursory glance, he lowered himself silently into the room, and Roy followed. They were in what Roy could only assume to be a break room. Red Hood pointed at the door.

"This door leads right into a freight room. If everything is where it's supposed to be, that's where the goods are. Currently, they should still be in the other room, the one at the bow, you remember? So we should be almost alone except for a few guards. The drugs are stereotypically being transported in stuffed animals." Roy snorted. Of course they were.

"So, what's it gonna be? A plethora of teddy bears?"

"No. If I wasn't informed incorrectly, there'll be giraffes and bunnies and turtles. We need to get the contents of one of each."

"Different strokes for different blokes, I see." Red Hood tilted his head the other direction and Roy would have given a lot to see his mimic at that moment.

"Be in touch via comms. They are not distinguishable by sight, or scent, and probably not taste either, so we cannot tell what we've got until you've handed this over to one of your lovely teammates."

"For that you claim to work alone, you sure got my team under control," Roy teased.

"Well, I can't help it. You're simply too easy to influence." And before Roy could retort anything - not that he had anything smart to say - Red Hood disappeared out the door. Roy hurried to follow him.

The door, true to Red Hood's predictions, led to a large hall full of cardboard boxes. Roy found it odd that plushies were merely transported in cartons, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he gave Red Hood the silent signal that he'd be taking the right side and went to work. He carefully snuck through the rows, careful of any guard and occasionally reading the labels on the boxes. There was a lot more in here being transported than only plushies, that much was sure. His earpiece crackled.

"I found the turtles and got a bag."

"Got it," he replied silently and continued his search. He had two close calls with guards before he finally found something himself.  "Hood, I found the bunnies."

"Good. Hurry. They should be almost done with the other hall by now." Roy sighed. Of course, now they also had to hurry. He slit one of the boxes open, retrieved a bunny and positively gutted him. In the stuffing was a comparatively small bag with white powder. It was almost underwhelming. 

"Arsenal?" Roy winced with the sudden, loud noise in his ear. 

"Tone it down, Red, or you'll get me spotted. What is it?"

"Be very alert. We haven't found out who is behind it, but that's because they don't know. Someone is manipulating and controlling them to a degree that they think their closest allies told them to do certain things or don't even know why they're doing it. I have a hunch who it might be, but that would be a Gotham made problem, so I'm not sure how likely that is."

"Who is it?" Roy's stomach dropped as the Red Hood chimed in and there was a moment of stunned silence on Tim's end.

"Maybe Mad Hatter. He's not in Arkham right now, Robin told me that they haven't been able to track him down yet because he hasn't done anything obvious thus far. Nothing that screams unhealthy Alice fixation, at least. But the entire mind-control schtick is right up his lane." There was silence and while Roy contemplated whether he'd ever had the misfortune of having encountered that particular asshole, he was whacked over the head - luckily not hard or precise enough to knock him entirely out. Before he could reorient himself, the guy was yelling for help and Roy cursed, whirled around and on pure instinct knocked the side of his hand into the guy's neck. The precise punch sent him unconscious immediately and he looked around frantically, expecting another guard to reach him any second.

"Arsenal, you okay?" He didn't dare to answer but send a yes back in morse. He had learned early on that sometimes, replying verbally was about as stupid as it could get, so he had integrated a button on his earpiece that would send simple peep sounds that weren't heard on his end. "I take it you've run into someone. I got the last one. Head back to the break room, I'll meet you there." Roy sighed. He'd done a great job of fucking things up. Always good when you worked with someone for the very first time. He peered around the next corner and saw another guard approaching quickly. Not sure whether that guy had already made out his movement, Roy stepped right in front of him, crossed the distance between them with two quick steps and before the man knew what had come over him, Roy had him in a headlock and choked him until he passed out. Leaving a trail of unconscious bodies in his wake. Very subtle. Not his day. He couldn't remember that people usually had such an easy job of getting a jump on him. 

He made it back to the break room without further incidents. Red Hood was already waiting for him. He handed him the two bags immediately. "In case shit hits the fan, at least you know what to do with those. And I'm sure one of your lot gets you out. Now swing your ass up there and let's get up and out." They made their way back on deck the same way they had come: crouching through the air vents. Back on deck, every possibility for cover had vanished. They had cleared off the deck far quicker than they'd anticipated. Just their rotten luck. Roy waited until he couldn't see anyone anymore before he left his hiding spot and immediately fired his grappling gun to get the high ground. People didn't tend to look up when they were looking for threats unless they'd been trained to do so. Red Hood joined him about thirty seconds later.

"Now? Back to the base?" Red Hood shook his head slowly.

"There's nothing wrong on the ship," he said thoughtfully as they drove the boxes out from the belly of the ship. "Hand the samples to Ravager, tell her to hurry the fuck up, we've got a lorry to catch." Roy's eyebrows shot up.

"You wanna keep tracking that?" Red Hood tilted his head.

"Better ideas? Should Oracle or Red Robin or whoever come back to you and tell you that the drugs have already been swapped, well, then it happens a lot earlier and we have the shittiest job in the world ahead of us. Should they be swapped later on, only one way to find out, huh?" Roy shifted. He wasn't entirely comfortable with it. Maybe it was because he had the feeling he wasn't at his height and this sounded like something that needed him exactly there, maybe it was because this part of the mission hadn't been discussed earlier and was just jumped on him now.

"This is a stupid thing to do, but you're right. So far we haven't gained anything." He called in Ravager - Red Hood already made his way over to the lorry so they wouldn't get too close to each other - and handed her the sample, quickly explained to her that he was going to do something immensely stupid, and hurried to get back to Red Hood's side.

"Oracle, Ravager's on her way to you with the samples. Analyze them as quickly as possible so we know whether we're hunting for ghosts or not."

"What are you doing, Arsenal?"

"We're following the drugs until they safely arrive at a warehouse or wherever they're meant to go. I'm not in the trade, so, whatever. But just in case the exchange happens later it would be foolish to let that delivery slide. You've got an eye on my position?" He had been given a tracker and with all the experiences he'd made with trackers and comms that were off in the very wrong moment, he never bothered to deactivate his tracker.

"Yeah, I got you. Don't do anything stupid, all right?"

"Will do my best. Although this already seems plenty stupid to me." She chuckled.

"You've grown soft over those last months, huh?"

"Bite me," was his retort and he muted the comms link again. He noticed the Red Hood was staring at him. "What?" He shook his head.

"Nothing. Just not used to working with people who... Work with a net and rely on others, I guess." Roy snorted.

"I'm surprised you could say you're used to working with people at all. Though that once again makes you sound a lot like you know a Bat. I know they have my back if I ask for it and I'm not exactly only watching out for myself anymore." Having Lian back made vigilantism a whole lot less attractive. He knew he couldn't be reckless because, although he might end up dead and the fourth world might bring him more happiness, confidence, and peace, there still would be a way for him to know he had fucked up big time. Also, and Roy unfortunately couldn't remember any details of that particular belief, there was the chindi, the bad things that were not in tune with the harmony, he would undoubtedly leave behind that might terrorize... a lot of people, probably. Hopefully mostly Ollie. Either way, dying had lost a lot of its appeal since Lian had returned and he needed to stay alive at least for her. "I never understood half of the paranoia, anyway. There's a fine line between healthy scepticism and unreasonable paranoia, you people know that, right?" A crackle.

"There's just so much you can do apart from the way you were raised. Let's get this show on the road." Roy was glad that Red Hood had decided to travel atop the lorry and not inside of the container. Then again, paranoia: There were decidedly too few exits should they be spotted. It also didn't take long for the pin to drop.

"How can they not have noticed this? And who are those idiot drivers?", Red Hood said quietly, though with the modification it was still loud enough for Roy to hear against the wind. "As you might have noticed, we're not going to any of the warehouses on my turf."

"Yeah, figures. Oracle, can you trace the lorries that will arrive in a few minutes at the warehouses in the Bowery back to see where those replacement trucks came from?"

"I'm on it. Sit tight until I found out."

"Try to find out before we leave Gotham or the trip back will be a pain in the ass." A cackle from next to him. He raised his eyebrows.

"Such language. Cannot imagine what it's like getting away with that." Roy furrowed his brows. He couldn't imagine anyone ever reprimanding the Red Hood for foul language, especially since he mostly worked alone. His training spoke of years of hard work, he spoke as if he'd been trained since he was a child, his accent when he'd spoken to the dealers a few days ago had screamed born and raised in Gotham, and yet he'd only recently appeared. Something didn't add up. Nothing added up.

"Arsenal? I got them, you can hop off."

"Oh, sweet Jesus. Thanks a ton, BG." He heard Red Hood's grappling hook already connect with the next best something, and he hurried to follow. Even though all evidence had been destroyed, they still returned to the very same office building they had started their mission in. When Roy arrived. Red Hood held up a hand to motion for him to be quiet since he was talking to someone else via his comms. Probably informing Mercer to not sell any of the new deliveries. 

"I will compensate you for the time being and get the delivery back if the meantime passes without incident. I know you're not running dry yet. You know the rules. No children. Leave the workers be." He lowered his hand.

"The workers?"

"Sex workers. Some idiots have harassed them recently and I'm not having it. Anyway, I can't believe they're simply replacing the trucks and driving the good stuff out of the city and have an identical delivery with the rotten stuff delivered at the very same time. The amount of money, planning, timing, bribing and fuck knows what this takes doesn't justify the results. It's easier to get your own stuff than to pull that stunt."

"So it isn't about the stolen goods. Is it about specifically running your customers down? Because if Black Mask isn't targeted, he'll get your territory, right?"

"Not without a fight, that's for damn sure, but yeah." Roy loosened his ponytail to run his fingers through his hair.

"Mind if I smoke?", he asked mostly out of habit and got a cackle in return.

"Have at it. It'll stunt your growth, kid." Roy didn't know what he was doing until he had the Red Hood pinned to the next wall, chest shoved against it. Apparently, that sentence had taken the last of his sanity, but... It couldn't be coincidence, not anymore. Roy smashed his head against the wall to stop his struggling for a second and gain a better grip on his pin. He was two hundred per cent certain that if he hadn't surprised him, there was no way in hell that he could have simply pinned him like that. Now it was about not losing the advantage.

"I really meant to leave it alone. I don't pry in other people's lives. But this is all too convenient. You show up here, knowing the exact people, getting the right amount of intel from them, and deliver all of this to me although I haven't yet promised you anything? You conveniently come to my rescue and that of my daughter so I can trust you and you expect me to not be suspicious? What the hell is your deal?" Again he banged his head against the wall, and he heard something shatter. 

It'll stunt your growth, kid.

It didn't make sense. But his short moment of confusion was entirely enough for the Red Hood to free his hands from his grip. Before they could go for his guns, Roy whirled him around, pressed his lower arm as best against his throat as he could - the helmet made it less of an effective pin than it would otherwise be - and leaned against it with his full weight, trapping his left arm between him and the wall. His next move was obviously to trap that very free right hand but... The helmet was shattered. Roy leaned back a bit to look at the face. His eyes widened. And that was all it took for the Red Hood to smirk at him - now that he could see it - and detonate a flash grenade.

Roy wasn't even fighting him anymore as he felt him free himself from his loose grip. There was the sound of a grappling gun and Roy knew he was gone but he still couldn't move. He sat down slowly, still blinded, and as he closed his eyes all he could see were those concrete blue eyes that had smirked at him.

"Jason," he breathed. That wasn't possible. Jason was dead. Jason had died. Jason had died in Ethiopia, while Dick was on a mission with him and the Titans, off-world, and when they returned, Roy suddenly had to help a grieving Dick Grayson. He was gone and they hadn't been contacted and there had been a funeral and Dick couldn't have been there and Bruce was not able to talk about any of it because he was grieving because Jason was dead. Jason was dead.

This wasn't possible.

"Arsenal, you there? Listen, I've got a lead on the-"

"Not now, Oracle," he interrupted her. He could hear her hesitation.

"Are you okay?" He shook his head, knew that she couldn't see that, but he did it anyway. He was far from okay. 

"Seen a ghost. Need to call it quits for tonight. I'll be on my way to you in probably ten minutes." He needed at least ten minutes to recompose himself.

It all made sense. And that had been what tipped him off.

It'll stunt your growth, kid.

Those were the exact same words Roy had thrown at Jason, years ago when he'd caught him smoking. Jason had huffed and flipped him off before he muttered that with what he'd eaten in his life so far, it was a miracle he wasn't still four foot tall. Somehow it had hurt to be reminded of Jason's less than optimal childhood, but Roy had chuckled because he could get behind that sense of humour. 

It all made sense. His extensive knowledge about the Bats, about Gotham, some offhand comments, his training. And just when he'd thought he'd figured it all out, Roy's stomach sank again.

Dick had told him that the Red Hood had been around for more than half a year by now. Half a year that Jason - if it was Jason, but it had to be Jason, though it couldn't be him - had hidden in plain sight from his former family, that he even went toe to toe with them and now the younger Bats simply let him be while Bruce... while Bruce was actively avoiding him. While Bruce was asking him to keep Jason away from Nightwing. Jason roamed the streets of Gotham, knowing that Bruce knew who he was - and something had happened that scared him away.

Emotionally scarring Bruce suddenly didn't seem too unlikely.

It took him exactly as long as he'd said until he could drag himself up from the floor and out the window. It was a long way to the Clocktower and Roy wasn't enjoying a single second of it. In typical Gotham fashion, it had started to rain again, and he was, from the bottom of his heart, feeling miserable. Only two blocks away from home, or whatever counted as home right now, his comms link crackled back to life.

"Arsenal, how seriously are you out of commission right now?" He sighed.

"Just mildly unfocused, why?"

"Because I just got a distress signal from Red Hood." Roy cursed under his breath.

"All right, where am I headed?"

"I'll guide you." Oracle lead him just about in the same direction as he'd come from and Roy vaguely recognized the Bowery.

"Please don't tell me it's the Amusement Mile."

"It's not the Amusement Mile."

"Where's Ravager?"

"A minute behind you. Can you see anything?" He was, in perfect Bat fashion, crouching on a rooftop, trying to get a good look at the proceedings through one of the headlights. And really, down there, tied to a chair, was the Red Hood - his helmet still cracked, and Roy felt incredibly guilty that very moment.

"What were you doing tonight at Northpoint?", a voice demanded to know, but Roy couldn't place it. The person was out of Roy's sight and he looked for a different headlight, some way to change the angle without drawing attention to himself so that he could see who had kidnapped him - and how many other men were in the room.

"I can see four guards, all of them armed. I know there's at least a fifth one in there who's currently talking. I'd wait for him to leave, drop a smoke pellet, I get Red Hood out of there and Ravager takes care that we're not being followed."

"Sounds like a plan," Ravager said from behind him - for once he'd heard her arrive - and looked down.

"What was your business at Northpoint?" The man sounded agitated now, but there was still stoic silence. "All right." A fifth guy stepped into the light - clearly not the leader, Roy noticed - who had a crowbar in his hand. The first swings landed against his legs and Roy cringed. The legs usually were the least armoured - this had to hurt like hell. And yet there was no sound.

"Tell me!" The man sounded almost frantic now. The next swing landed where his hands were bound behind the chair and Roy prayed against all odds they weren't broken. "I'll give you ten minutes to think about it!" They waited until the door had closed and another sickening thud from the crowbar meeting Red Hood's body sounded through the hall.

"I'll make you talk, I promise." It only took a quick glance and Rose dropped the smoke pellet through the headlight. Smoke filled the room, far thicker and quicker than Roy had expected. He hooked his grappling gun up on the roof and quickly lowered himself on the rope. The typical disoriented shouting had started and Roy didn't suppress the grin that overcame him when he heard the first pained grunts. But he had a different mission; Ravager was perfectly capable of taking those fools out. He hurried to where he remembered the chair being, cut Jason loose in record time, threw him over his shoulder and - with some difficulty - grappled back onto the roof. It was only up there that he noticed that Jason had passed out and there was blood on his face. Whether it was from his nose or his mouth he couldn't say.

"Oracle, Red Hood is wounded. Where's the next safe house I can use?" The words 'only across the street' had never sounded sweeter in his life. While Roy had a whole lot of strength in his upper body, he wasn't quite used to grappling through the night carrying twice his weight. The only downside was that he needed to take the main entrance because there was no time and no equipment to disable the alarm system from the balcony. The access codes Barbara could give him. Luckily, there wasn't much commotion at two in the night and he managed to manoeuvre Jason first into the elevator, then in front of the apartment where he had to put him down to pick the lock and quickly disable the alarm afterwards.

Once he had managed to get Jason settled on the sofa, Roy felt more exhausted than he'd been on the entire mission.

"Oracle, just so you know, we're safe now. Ravager, you okay?"

"Peachy," was the dry reply.

"You good to call it a night?"

"Sure. Whatever you say." Roy ran his fingers through his hair.

"Nah, I'm giving command back to Red or Oracle, whoever feels inclined. I'm staying here and will be off comms for a while, I'll check in in two hours latest." And with that, he discarded his mask and headset and turned back around to the Red Hood, who was still dead to the world. Roy shook his head in disbelief. This was just too much. But first things first. Jason had been ambushed and beaten up none too gently. He hoped that the securities on his suit didn't reach all the way down to his gloves or he'd be flat on his ass in a second. They didn't, and he very carefully removed the gloves before he bent over him to inspect the release mechanism on the helmet. If Tim had gotten it off Lian, he'd somehow manage to get it off Jason, right?

It took him a minute to find the pressure points on both sides of the helmet before it released with a pathetic hiss. He put the broken helmet on the small table next to Jason and checked his head for further injuries. If he was honest with himself, the worst of those injuries probably came from him bashing Jason's head against the wall.

With a sigh, he got up and hunted down a bowl with warm water and washcloth as well as two ice packs in the foreign apartment. As soon as he placed Jasons slowly swelling hands on the first ice pack, the man shot up and Roy had to duck to not be whacked in the face.

"It's all right, you're safe. I'm not here to hurt you. Any more than I have, that is. Sorry about that, I guess." He expected curses, shouting, Jason lashing out, but he only glared at him and shook his head. Roy cringed. Suddenly, he got up but without the helmet, Roy could see in his face that it hurt more than just a little bit. 

"Stay here. I won't force myself on you, so do your thing, patch yourself up, get some rest, I will not bother you. But don't go running out there because you just sincerely want to avoid me." Another pointed glare. "I told the rest to keep away from us. They don't know, if you were wondering." The silence got to him. He was neither used to Jason nor to the Red Hood being that silent.

Roy remained sitting on the floor as Jason walked around the sofa, into the kitchen, got himself a glass of water. Roy hit himself over the head for not having thought of it. Then he sat down on the sofa again, slowly, calculated. His fingers curled tentatively around the glass and Roy couldn't imagine this to be comfortable, not after what had happened. He wasn't even entirely sure whether one of them was broken. Jason had woken up before he could check.

They sat there for a minute in total silence before Jason finally said something to him. A simple thanks. Roy furrowed his brows. Jason sighed and elaborated.

"For busting me out"

"No worries. Kinda owed you one or two after the shit I pulled on you."

"Why?"

"Why I tried to bash your head in?" Jason nodded. Roy shrugged. "I blame part of it on lingering fear gas effects. I think I'm a lot more paranoid than I would have been otherwise. It was just that one sentence. It'll stunt your growth, kid. It sent me back ten years and you weren't exactly approachable from the very start so... that kinda tipped the scales for me. Not that I'd have expected to meet a ghost. I'm still not sure I'm not making this all up. It's really you, though, isn't it?" The man next to him smirked.

"Did they hurt you before they tied you up? Anything worse than the bruising, I mean?" He glanced down at Jason's hands and his throat and then back up again. Jason shook his head, but there was a bitter smile on his face.

"Are your fingers okay? Your legs? I mean, apparently, they're not broken or you wouldn't have walked those three feet, but..." Roy trailed off. He was rambling and he knew it. Jason put both his hands on the ice pack that slowly grew warm on the sofa. He shrugged.

"I've had worse." He bet he had. He'd been dead, after all. What had happened?!

"I have a million questions, just so you know, and I'm rather certain you're not having any of it. So... tell me if I can help you somehow, anyhow. I'll look for something to eat." With that, he got up and into the small kitchen that opened into the living room. The fridge was almost empty, which was probably for the best, but in the cupboards he found some basic ingredients and some canned goods. He sighed, contemplating what he could make with this that didn't need any eggs when his gaze fell on his hands. He hadn't even noticed the blood, didn't know whether it was his own or whether it was Jason's. Roy held his hand up for Jason to see and went to the bathroom. He thoroughly scrubbed his hands and maybe he was too exhausted to be surprised, but when he returned and Jason wasn't there anymore, he merely sighed, grabbed his stuff, put his mask back in place and returned to the Clock Tower.

"You all right, Arsenal?", Barbara immediately asked, still on her computer, still keeping an eye on the resident vigilantes. Roy nodded tiredly.

"Lian's still sleeping?"

"Snug as a bug. You look beat. What happened?" Roy sighed.

"I promise I'll tell you, and only you, I guess. For now. But... I can't believe I say this, I'll have to pay a visit to Wayne Manor tomorrow." Her eyebrows shot up. Roy felt her. He couldn't believe it himself. "I just found something out that I think Bruce knows, and only Bruce, and if that's true... I don't have to tell you that man has a problem. Also, I might have scared Red Hood off my case. Might have lost him as an informant." If possible, her eyebrows rose even higher.

"I won't ask now because you look about ready to hit the sheets. If you don't mind some typing and some lost vigilantes returning, you can crash up here with your daughter. I have a guest room on the lower floor as well." Roy shook his head.

"I'm good up here. I'll just be downstairs to shower and stuff and then I'll be back." Barbara nodded.

"Take your time." Roy saw the care and the concern in her eyes and wondered what he'd done to deserve the amount of love.

When he snuggled up with his daughter, he still saw those metal blue eyes and the silent smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My, who'd have thought that Jason is the Red Hood?!  
> Thanks for reading, I'll be back next week with a visit to Wayne Manor and a brief encounter with the one and only Alfred Pennyworth.  
> As always, if I made some grave mistakes in spelling, grammar, logic, or forgot to tag something, please let me know.  
> Kudos and comments feed the plot bunnies <3


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